EcoCAR Challenge
EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge is a multi-college competition sponsored by GM and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), organized and overseen by Argonne National Laboratory. It is a joint venture between Government, Industry, and Academia with 17 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. GM will be donating a Saturn Vue to each team for the competition. 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 2008 to 2011. 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.
If you would like to know more please visit the official competition Web site or the official Blog.
The following teams have been selected to compete in the EcoCAR competition:
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, FL)
• Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
• Howard University (Washington, D.C.)
• Michigan Technological University (Houghton, MI)
• Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
• Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, MO)
• North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC)
• Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
• Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN)
• Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX)
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada)
• University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
• University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
• University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
• West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV)
