EcoCAR 2: Plugging In To the Future is a multi-collegiate competition sponsored by GM and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and organized by Argonne National Laboratory. It is a joint venture between government, industry, and academia with 15 teams from North America competing in this challenge. The goal is to design and build a working hybrid vehicle applying GM’s standard engineering design methods and procedures.

The objective is to construct vehicles employing innovative technology which reduce greenhouse emissions, have better efficiency, and reduce overall petroleum consumption from well-to-wheels when compared to the stock vehicle-while maintaining consumer acceptability and usability. Teams will be responsible for designing and integrating the hardware and software necessary to make the vehicle run.

The competition takes place over three years from 2011 to 2014. Competition requirements and deadlines are scored throughout each academic year with a final competition taking place in the summer of each year.

• First Year Modeling and Simulation
• Second Year Integration of components into the vehicle and build a “mule” vehicle
• Third Year Completion of the vehicle and creating a 99% Buyoff vehicle that meets current consumer acceptability expectations.

Year One:

The Penn State EcoCAR 2 team is currently working on the Year One competition goals. Currently, the team is using modeling software to develop an architecture which will be used throughout the entire competition. To catch up on the latest Penn State EcoCAR 2 vehicle progress, check the Year One Vehicle section of the website.

To read about other teams, visit the section about EcoCAR 2 Teams, visit the official EcoCAR 2 website, or check out EcoCAR’s blog called Green Garage Blog.