Engineers From Ohio State University Win First Place at 2009 EcoCAR Competition

[Saturn team]

Recently, students from Ohio State University earned top honors at the 2009 finals of the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge competition in Toronto, Canada, for their design of an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV.

Ohio State University took first place out of 17 universities in the U.S. and Canada that competed in the first major milestone of this three-year competition which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, and many others including the Government of Canada. The competition challenges university engineering students across North America to re-engineer a 2009 Saturn VUE to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions while retaining the vehicle’s performance and consumer appeal.

The Ohio State team’s design was powered by a 1.8 liter engine and fueled by E85 ethanol. The next-generation design predicts a 300% increase in fuel economy over the production 4 cylinder vehicle. The second place vehicle design, engineered by students at the University of Victoria is also an EREV that runs on E85 ethanol. Mississippi State University was awarded third place for its EREV design powered by B20 biodiesel.
For a closer look at the competition week’s activities, and an entertaining video, go to http://greengarageblog.org.