DETROIT — At the SAE 2011 World Congress in Detroit in April, David Sandalow, assistant secretary for policy, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), took the stage for the morning keynote address and, along with Karl Stracke from General Motors (GM), announced the official launch of EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future.
Established by the DOE and GM, EcoCAR 2 is a three-year collegiate engineering competition and the only program of its kind.
The mission of EcoCAR 2 is to educate the next generation of automotive engineers through an unparalleled hands-on, real-world engineering experience. The competition challenges 16 North American universities to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.
Combining new teams and veterans to Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions, the schools that have been chosen to participate in the EcoCAR 2 are:
• California State University, Los Angeles, CA;
• Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO;
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL;
• Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS;
• North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC;
• The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH;
• Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA;
• Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN;
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN;
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada;
• University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN;
• University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada;
• University of Washington, Seattle, WA;
• University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;
• Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA; and
• Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
EcoCAR 2 requires students to explore a variety of powertrain architectures and follow a real-world engineering regimen modeled after GM’s Global Vehicle Development Process (GVDP). EcoCAR 2 teams will utilize a Chevrolet Malibu, donated by General Motors, as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design.
“Giving the students the Chevy Malibu for the next vehicle made perfect sense, as the industry and consumers are moving to smaller cars,” said Karl Stracke, CEO of Opel/Vauxhall at GM.
“Plus, the Malibu offers the students a flexible platform that will allow them to explore various advanced propulsion technologies and other fuel savings techniques. We’re definitely eager to watch the EcoCAR teams gain unparalleled experience and knowledge that will be extremely valuable to any automotive company after the students graduate.”
For more information, visit: www.ecocar2.org.
