The University of Victoria in British Columbia has placed second in the 2009 finals for the EcoCAR Challenge competition, with Ohio State University earning the top honours for its design of an Extended Range Electric Vehicle.
The top three designs include Ohio State’s 1.8 litre engine fuelled by E85 ethanol, and predicting a 300 per cent increase in fuel economy over the typical production four-cylinder vehicle; the University of Victoria’s EREV fuelled by E85 ethanol; and Mississippi State University’s EREV fuelled by B20 biodiesel.
The EcoCAR challenge is a three-year collegiate advanced vehicle technology engineering competition established in 2007 and sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, General Motors and Natural Resources Canada through the Argonne National Laboratory. The competition challenges 17 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles by minimizing the vehicle’s fuel consumption and reducing its emissions while retaining the vehicle’s performance, safety and consumer appeal.
“Road vehicles are a major contributor to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Canada,” said John Baird, minister of transport and infrastructure. “The successful projects will help contribute to a more sustainable transportation system.”
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During the competition, teams are tasked with creating innovative designs for clean car technology for next generation vehicles, building advanced propulsion solutions and using real-world engineering processes to design and integrate advanced technology solutions into a 2009 GM Saturn VUE sport utility vehicle. Teams are also encouraged to include a renewable fuels component into their designs.
Of the 17 schools involved in the EcoCAR challenge, all three of the participating Canadian universities were recognized for excellence during the 2009 competition finals held in Toronto, Ontario, in June. In addition to the University of Victoria, the University of Waterloo in Ontario, placed fifth place overall, while the University of Ontario Institute of Technology was awarded the third place BOSCH Diversity in Engineering Award and was recognized as the only team to design a Full Function Electric Vehicle, which emits zero emissions and consumes no liquid or gaseous fuels.