EcoCAR
“This competition focuses on advanced technology that promotes energy security and economic growth,” said Ed Wall, manager of the Vehicle Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. “EcoCAR demonstrates how government, industry and academia are working together to develop creative approaches and solutions to decreasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in some of America’s most popular vehicles.”
In the first year teams develop their vehicle designs through the use of GM’s Global Vehicle Development Process – the modeling simulation process currently used to develop all of GM’s vehicles. Sophisticated hardware in the loop (HIL) and software in the loop (SIL) systems will be designed, and teams challenged to model and engineer the subsystems into their design.
During Years Two and Three, students will build the vehicle and continue to refine, test, and improve vehicle operation. At the end of Years Two and Three, the re-engineered student vehicle prototypes will compete in a week-long competition of engineering tests. These tests will be similar to the tests GM conducts to determine a prototype’s readiness for production. The Greenhouse gas, Regulated Emissions, and Energy in Transportation (GREET) model, developed at Argonne National Laboratory, will be used to assess a well-to-wheel analysis of the greenhouse gas impacts of each technology approach the teams select.
“Our Government is proud to support the EcoCAR competition, and I look forward to the exciting innovations that will come out of the hard work of the students,” said the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through clean energy technology is a priority in Canada.”
A selection process open to all accredited engineering schools in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will begin December 3, 2007, and approximately 16 teams will be selected in April 2008 for the competition.
GM, the U.S. Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada are major sponsors for EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge. Additional information about EcoCar and the Challenge X program is available on the Web at http://www.challengex.org and photography is available at http://www.digitalrailroad.net/challengex 
[More]
