The 2018 EcoCAR Mobility Challenge has been officially launched, and will see competing universities from both Canada and the U.S. design and build next-generation mobility solutions.
The announcement was recently made by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks. So far, 12 participating universities have signed up for the DOE-sponsored Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC), which will see students work together to build a mobility solution that uses the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer as the vehicle platform.
“The future of transportation and mobility is evolving and bringing forth new technologies, challenges, and opportunities,” said Acting Assistant Secretary, Cathy Tripodi. “The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge allows students to develop innovative technologies to keep America at the forefront of this changing landscape and provide consumers convenient, cost-effective options for personal mobility.”
Each participating team will receive a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer, courtesy of General Motors, for the competition. These teams will then have four years (until the summer of 2022) to design, integrate and refine the vehicle into a “new, advanced technology, energy-efficient mobility solution” geared towards the car-sharing market. The designs from students are expected to meet future energy and mobility challenges in North America.
The competition aims to help develop a “highly skilled, domestic workforce,” with participants applying advanced propulsion systems, electrification, SAE Level 2 automation and vehicle connectivity to “improve the energy efficiency of a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer”. Students will also have to factor in things like emissions, safety, utility, and consumer acceptability, according to the EcoCAR news release.
“EcoCAR serves as an experimental laboratory, where students get to play and learn with real world tools and technologies that will help them secure jobs and build careers,” said Lauren Tabolinsky, Academic Program Manager, MathWorks. “We are excited to once again partner with the DOE and GM in supporting this next generation of engineers as they adopt multi-disciplinary design and development approaches to experiment, fine-tune and succeed in this challenge.”
Participating universities include:
- Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, FL)
- Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
- McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
- Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
- The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
- University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL)
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
- University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
- University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
- Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
- West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV)
