Machines | UVic EcoCAR Unveiling Event

The platform vehicle for building the car of the future is now on the University of Victoria campus. A team of UVic engineering students, competing in a continent-wide competition to design a fuel-efficient, reduced emissions vehicle, has taken delivery of a General Motors donated vehicle. On Nov. 12 you can view the car, talk to the team and learn more about the EcoCAR competition when the vehicle is unveiled at 11 a.m. in the lobby of the Engineering Lab Wing. EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, along with headline sponsors the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM), challenges 17 universities across North America to redesign and reengineer a GM donated vehicle to further minimize fuel consumption and reduce emissions while retaining the vehicles performance and consumer appeal. The competition aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by giving them the experience necessary to design efficient and clean vehicles. The UVic team has already placed second overall among competitors in the first phase of the competition, where it built a virtual model of this next generation hybrid vehicle, and simulated and roughly optimized the design using advanced software and computer modeling tools. That placing has earned the team the keys to the vehicle now on campus, so it can turn cutting-edge modeling and simulations into reality. EcoCAR provides students with leading edge knowledge on hybrid vehicle technology, and gives students hands-on design and engineering experience, says UVic engineering faculty member Dr. Zuomin Dong. Our students have worked hard this past year, and they are excited for the opportunity to integrate their entirely new and advanced hybrid powertrain designs into the base vehicle. As the UVic student engineers embark on the second phase of the challenge, they will build their uniquely designed 4WD, Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) with an E85/flex-fuel compatible 2.4 L Ecotech engine, GM 2-mode hybrid transmission, three electric motors (one for the added rear wheel drive), and a newly developed large 21 kWh lithiumion battery pack. The vehicle will have a pure electric range of 60 kilometers. Now that the team has moved on to the physical stage of the competition it will begin work under the hood of the vehicle and take it to the road next spring. The UVic team is going for the gold this year! says graduate engineering student and team leader Jeremy Wise. Follow the UVic team on Twitter at twitter.com/UVicEcoCAR and visit its website at ecocar.uvic.ca.