Videos


EVTV Friday Show. EVTV. 10.31.14. Kevin and Nate join host Jack Rickard to talk about innovation.

Translogic 156: Illuminati Motor Works Seven. Autoblog Translogic. 08.11.14.

Daily Planet. Discovery Channel Canada. 03.25.14.

Man hopes electric cars will be the future.” WAND 17 News. Decatur, IL. 01/27/14. (last 1:40 of the video).

Illuminati Electric Car II” 12.20.13. Illinois Stories. WSEC-TV/PBS Springfield. A group of Springfield men developed an outstanding electric car and inspired a book about their project.

Illuminati Motors Seven at Cars & Coffee NJ.” 12.14.13. MPGomatic’s YouTube channel. Kevin Smith from Illuminati Motor Works takes us on a walk around of Seven at a Cars & Coffee in Chatham NJ.

QuickCharge Exclusive: Illuminati Motor Works ‘Seven.'” 12.08.13. Transport Evolved interviewed Kevin Smith at the bi-weekly Cars & Croissants in Chatham, NJ.

2013 EVCCON Drag Racing.” 08.13.13. Footage of electric vehicle 1/8 mile drag races at EVCCON 2013. Includes Seven.

Installing Carbon Fiber Panels on Seven.” 04.02.13. Kevin Smith provides a quick overview of the process of attaching the new carbon fiber and kevlar body panels to the EV.

Illuminati Motor Works: Seven.” 07.07.12. Illinois CentralWICS 20, Springfield, IL.

How to Make a Carbon Fiber Panel. 05.27.12. Composite specialist Reg Schmeiss shows the team how to create a flat carbon fiber panel for use on Seven.

Creating Carbon Fiber Body Panels for Seven – Part 1. 05.27.12. Composite specialist Reg Schmeiss and IMW show how they are pulling molds off of Seven to use when vacuum-forming carbon-fiber body panels.

Creating Carbon Fiber Body Panels for Seven – Part 2. 05.27.12. Nick Smith chronicles Reg’s progress as he creates molds of Seven’s rear fender.

Epoxy Body Filler. 02.20.12. Now that the new foam on Seven has been covered with a protective candy coating, it’s time to start smoothing the body with epoxy resin body filler.

Sculpting and Sealing Foam. 02.19.12. Kevin shares how the new curves have been sculpted symmetrically and how and why to seal the high density foam before continuing work.

Winter Update. 01.30.12. Much work is going into creating new body lines and adjusting Seven’s curves for a look that’s closer to the original design. The old body has been essentially re-sculpted and will be used as a plug for a new carbon fiber and honeycomb composite body.

Electric Car Drag Race and Autocross. 09.23.11. An electric car drag race and autocross competition was held on Friday, Sept. 23, 2011, during the Electric Vehicle Conversion Convention at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. Included is footage of Seven drag racing and taking part in autocross.

Riding with Seven. 08.04.11. Keven Smith takes us on a ride in “Seven,” Team Illuminati’s built-from-ground-up electric vehicle. (Filmed and edited by Greg Bishop)

Vote Illuminati Motor Works. 08.03.11. Central Illinois electric vehicle team Illuminati Motor Works needs your votes to win the EVTV.me Build Your Dream conversion contest. Here is video of Kevin Smith talking about IMW’s plans of converting a 1978 Gremlin to an all electric vehicle that can go up to 130 MPH for a 150 mile range on one charge. (Greg Bishop’s promotional video for our contest entry.)

Inside the Illuminati 7′s engine compartment. 07.21.11. Kevin Smith, in our earlier video and post, walked us through the Illuminati 7′s interior and exterior design, and then we got to roar out onto the highway. We also had him give us a tour of the vehicle’s engine, a beautiful creation with Frankensteinian accents (parts from a Fiero, a Geo Metro and so on).(Drive For Innovation’s third video from Brian Fuller’s visit to IMW headquarters.)

Four Years and a Hundred Grand. 07.21.11. That’s what Kevin Smith and friends are into on the Illuminati Motor Works 7 electric vehicle. But that’s an engineer for you. (Drive For Innovation’s second video from Brian Fuller’s visit to IMW headquarters.)

Zoom Zoom. 07.19.11 Rocketing past corn fields in the middle of Illinois is a machine that has to be seen to be believed. Take a look at part 1 of our report on our visit with Illuminati Motor Works, Virden, Ill. (Drive For Innovation’s first video from Brian Fuller’s visit to IMW headquarters.)

Transmission Troubles. 06.15.11. Kevin describes some of the transmission trouble we had recently. It turns out the weak link moved from the clutch to the differential. We chipped one of the differential spider gear teeth and the ring gear which also pumps the gear oil through the transmission tossed a piece of spider gear into our 4th gear set which chewed its self to bits.

EVTV Friday Show. 06.03.11. Jack Rickard interviews members of IMW and evaluates Seven after its 216 mile drive (yes, 216 miles, we didn’t want to correct him on camera) to visit his workshop.

Illuminati Motor Works at the Rockford SAE. 05.02.11. Rockford Society of Automotive Engineers invited us to one of their meetings, and they rented the Rockford speedway for us to take their members for rides in Seven.

Kevin Interviews UC Berkeley Students. 04.03.11. Kevin Smith interviews Ben and Janice from UC Berkley. Recorded in the winter of 2010 when both students visited the Illuminati Motor Works workshop while on break.

Seven: Reloaded. 03.29.11. Kevin and Nate discuss some of the changes made to Seven over the winter.

Chelsea, MI Interview. 03.21.11. Kevin describes why Illuminati Motor Works is back in Michigan.

Cold Weather EV Performance Testing. 02.27.11. Some footage of Seven on the road and a run down of the to-do list for this winter.

Installing and Evaluating Victron Energy’s Battery Monitoring System. 11.06.10. Nate and Kevin show how easy Victron Energy’s 600 HS battery monitoring system is to install and Kevin mentions how they’ll use it to monitor the effects of cold weather on battery performance.

Electric Car Tows Rocket Trike, Making History. 10.31.10. Renewable Rider Tom Weis hears Kevin Smith, Team Leader of Illuminati Motor Works, explain how he engineered a system, on the fly, to successfully transport three adults, a trailer and a rocket trike 100+ miles from Springfield to Champaign, IL in his futuristic-looking electric car. This likely sets a world record for an electric car accomplishing such a feat.Renewable Rider Tom Weis hears Kevin Smith, Team Leader of Illuminati Motor Works, explain how he engineered a system, on the fly, to successfully transport three adults, a trailer and a rocket trike 100+ miles from Springfield to Champaign, IL in his futuristic-looking electric car. This likely sets a world record for an electric car accomplishing such a feat.

IMW Seven Tows the Rocket Trike. 10.27.10. Tom Weis and his Rocket Trike were delayed in Springfield, IL on their way to the U of I Sustainability event in Champaign Urbana. Kevin and George picked up Tom and with the all-electric IMW 7 towed a trailer with the Rocket Trike aboard it. 3 adults, one big Ev, one small trailer with one Rocket Trike atop it, 119 mile trip total achieved 138.2 MPGe.

Accelerating the Future. 09.16.10. An excellent video recap of the competition by the talented folks at the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE.

IMW Seven in the IL State Fair Twilight Parade 2010. 08.15.10. The entire IMW team (plus family members) displayed Seven in the 2010 Illinois State Fair Twilight Parade.

Investigating the Transmission Trouble. 07.11.10 The team removes the motor and transmission from Seven and determines what caused the car to fail to reach 0-60 mph in 15 seconds. [For the impatient or short of attention span, a summary can be found at the end.]

Illuminati Motor Works Gets Eliminated. 07.14.10. Progressive Automotive X PRIZE interview with the team about an hour after they were knocked out of the competition. Kevin explains what went wrong and what went very right with Seven.

Seven: PIAXP Lateral Acceleration Test. 06.28.10. Seven passed the X PRIZE lateral acceleration test at the Knockout event with a result of 0.87 G. Here’s footage of Seven driving to and completing the test.

Seven: On Track For PIAXP Efficiency Tests June 2010. 07.05.10.
Seven averaged 119.8 MPGe across the three efficiency tests at the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Knockout event in June 2010.

Seven at RECC Annual Meeting. 06.10.10. IMW members answering questions about Seven at the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative’s annual meeting in Chatham, IL.

Quick Status Report. 06.04.10. Kevin quickly lists some of the modifications made to Seven in preparation for the PIAXP Knockout event.

Peel Ply Fiberglassing. 05.29.10. In an effort to reduce weight on Seven, IMW used tips and tricks learned from Edison2 at the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Shakedown event. Kevin and Patrick show how to use peel ply and fiberglass to re-create and replace the heavy trunk lids and hood.

Country Test Drive. 05.18.10. After much work to solve some of Seven’s issues, Kevin, Nate, and Nick take the BEV out for a test drive to check durability, regen braking, and acceleration.

IMW Post-Shakedown Update. 05.18.10. Kevin discusses some of the changes that have to be made to Seven after the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Shakedown Event.

Can Illuminati win the Automotive X Prize? (Consumer Reports interview) 05.12.10. Husband and wife team Kevin and Jen make up Team Illuminati. Have they sunk their savings into a winning car?

Seven on the Track at Shakedown (part 2). 05.09.10. Footage of Kevin, Seven, and other cars during the durability part of Shakedown.

Seven on the Track at Shakedown. 05.01.10. Kevin drives Seven on the track at Michigan International Speedway.

X Prize: Race to 100MPG (Consumer Reports video on Shakedown). 04.30.10. Overview of the on-course testing the cars went through and includes footage of Seven and interview with Kevin and Jen.

Seven’s Heating and Cooling System. 04.18.10. Thomas explains how Seven’s heating and cooling system will work.

Door Handle Installation. 04.11.10. Josh explains the reason for Seven’s door handle alignment.

Battery Box Modification Part 2. 04.10.10. Kevin and Nick discuss their progress on the new battery box design.

Battery Box Modification. 4.10.10. Kevin explains why the recent change in Seven’s battery box design.

Kevin Smith: Wildlife Hunter. 4.10.10. Kevin is distracted by a snake that entered the IMW workshop and decides to switch from engineer to wildlife program host.

Sunday Busy Sunday. 03.22.10. Jen takes a quick tour of the shop and asks about everyone’s jobs for the day.

Battery Vents and Custom Dashboard. 03.19.10. Kevin talks about our battery box cooling vents and the beginnings of our custom dashboard.

A Sad Day in the IMW Shop. 03.09.10. Our trusty 1925 GE Refrigerator has chilled it’s last beverage. Unless of course we can find the parts to fix her!

Seven, It Gives You Wings! 03.09.10. Kevin talks about some of the functional design features of Seven’s body.

Headlights and Bumpers. 03.09.10. Kevin and Thomas discuss the nuances of reproduction parts.

Workday Montage. 03.09.10. Jen captured a small sample of a typical workday in the IMW shop.

Windshield Wiper System. 03.01.10. Kevin and Nick talk about our low profile windshield wiper system.

Transmission Work/Battery Info. 03.01.10. Kevin talks about the shifter linkage Thomas designed and built, and about the helpful services at EV Components to help solve some battery issues that arose.

Exterior Progress. 03.01.10. Kevin goes over the latest steps we’ve taken to make Seven’s body functional. Also explains how we are going to have our custom windows made for us.

Seven Takes Shape. 02.15.10. Kevin talks about Seven taking shape and the steps to come to get to a finished body.

Bodywork Progress Update. 02.01.10. Kevin talks about our progress on the bodywork. Seven is coming together nicely.

Cutting and Fitting Foam Panels. 01.23.10. Kevin talks with John and Nick about the process of cutting and fitting foam panels for Seven.

Battery Box Mounts. 01.23.10. Kevin talks about our battery box mounts and why we’ve taken the batteries and drive systems out of the car.

Battery Management Thermal Safeguards. 01.23.10. Nate and Kevin explain the functions of our battery management thermal safeguards.

Suspension Travel Demo. 01.22.10. Kevin, Thomas, and Nate show that we have at least 4 inches of suspension travel.

Transmission Disengage. 01.07.10. Kevin explains as Thomas disengages the transmission to allow for coast-down testing.

Regenerative Braking System. 01.07.10. Nate and Kevin demonstrate the Regenerative Braking system on Seven.

Daylight Joyrides. 12.20.09. The entire team gets a chance to [carefully] drive “Seven” on a cold snowy morning.

Night Voyage. 12.15.09. Kevin takes Seven for a short spin in the dark.

Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Team Summit at SEMA. 11.30.09. Some IMW team members can be seen in group shots. Also good footage of alternative class vehicles.

Local guys driven to win $5M car competition. 11.24.09. Companion piece to the Springfield State Journal-Register article that ran the same day. Includes interviews with team members.

Motor Mounted and Brake Modifications. 11.16.09. Kevin shows the motor and trans finally mouted, and Thomas explains the rear brake system.

Electric Motor Modification. 11.16.09. Josh modifies the mounting flange of our MES DEA electric motor for axle clearance.

Motor to Trans Mounting. 11.16.09. Kevin explains mounting the electric motor to transmission.

New Hood Finished. 11.16.09. Kevin Shows the new hood design while George takes measurements for CAD.

IMW Hood Redesign. 11.16.09. Kevin explains our hood redesign and the reasons for doing so.

Multitasking. 11.16.09. Brief accounts of various projects going on in the Team IMW workshop. Typical Saturday for the IMW crew.

Illuminati Motor Works – Gull-wing Doors Demonstration. 11.12.09. Illuminati Motor Works captain Kevin Smith, with the assistance of team members Thomas Pasko and Josh Spradlin, demonstrates the gull-wing doors on their entry for the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE.

Local X-Prize Team Makes the Next Round. 11.09.09. WICS News Channel 20 Nightside.

Virden Illinois X Prize. 10.22.09. St. Louis Post Dispatch. Members of the Illuminati Motor Works, in Virden, Ill. compete for the Automotive X Prize.

The Race For The Future Car (VPRO Backlight). 01.13.09. “The technology to make cars much more fuel efficient already exists for decades, but it never makes it to the showroom. Why do we have to wait so long for fuel efficient vehicles?” Documentary featuring Illuminati Motor Works.

Discovery Science: “Brink” episode with Illuminati Motor Works. 12.22.08. In this episode of the Discovery Science Channel’s “Brink” show, Progressive Automotive X Prize contenders Illuminati Motor Works demonstrate eco-modding at the 2008 Maker Faire in Austin, TX.

Geek Squad at Maker Faire ’08: Eco-modding with Illuminati. 10.18.08. Travis from the Geek Squad checks out an eco-modded Hyundai car with Kevin from Illuminati Motor Works at Maker Faire 2008 in Austin, TX.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast IX: Engine Block Heater. 10.18.09. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast VIII: PX3 Oil Additive. 10.18.09. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast VII. 10.16.08. Tire-installation. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast VI: B Car Moon-eye Wheel Cover Install. 10.16.08. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast V: PulseStar Plugs Install and Test Run. 10.16.08. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast IV: B Car Intro and Mods 2. 10.13.08. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast III: B Car Intro and Mods. 10.13.08. Hyundai ecomodding project.

IMW “Seven” Webcast. 10.11.08.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast II: Maker Fair Display Panels and Mod Items. 10.09.08. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illuminati Motor Works Webcast 1: Maker Faire Display Construction. 10.08.08. Hyundai ecomodding project.

Illinois Stories: Illuminati Motor Works. 06.18.08. Early interview of Illuminati Motor Works, official Progressive Automotive X Prize Contenders.