The U.S. Department of Energy, the Canadian government and General Motors started the EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge competition earlier this year as a challenge to future auto engineers. This competition tasks 17 groups of university students throughout North America with turning the 2009 Saturn VUE into an emissions-neutral, fuel-efficient vehicle. Each group must keep the redesigned VUE as close to the original design and performance level as possible while using common elements like lithium-ion batteries, plug-in platforms and renewable fuels.
The Ohio State University was triumphant in the first round of EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge with its design for an ethanol-powered Saturn VUE. The first challenge for each university group was to come up with a design as well as computer modeling to demonstrate the vehicle’s projected performance levels. The OSU E85 version of the VUE was projected to achieve fuel mileage ratings 300% higher than the traditional gas-powered VUE in computer modeling. The group used a 1.8-liter engine powered by E85 fuel as well as a few tweaks to the drivetrain to come out ahead in this preliminary round.
OSU’s entry in the competition’s first round ran ahead of ethanol-powered entries from the University of Victoria (E85) and Mississippi State University (B20 diesel). The University of Ontario Institute of Technology was the sole group that designed a Saturn VUE with a fully electric drivetrain. The University of Waterloo and Missouri University of Science and Technology created plug-in EVs with hydrogen fuel cells available for onboard recharging. The bulk of the competition’s entries came from university groups with plug-in hybrid EVs with sizable lithium-ion batteries to reduce fuel consumption.
The competition will continue through 2011 as successive groups from each university build on the preceding group’s designs. The second round of the EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge in 2010 will require implementation of first-round designs into an actual Saturn VUE for initial testing. The final round in 2011 will be spent refining the design and implementation of each group’s design, harnessing the fuel efficiency and emissions promised in the initial computer model. While the Ohio State University may have won the first round of this competition, the consuming public stands to gain from the ideas presented in this competition in the next decade. The sponsoring organizations have the research resources, finances and connections to put successful designs into action in an increasingly eco-conscious market.
