Year two EcoCAR finals heat up in Ariz., Calif.
May 26, 2010
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State’s automotive design team is burning up the competition at this year’s EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge competition.
Sponsored by General Motors and the Department of Energy, the three-year competition ask 16 competitively selected university teams to re-engineer a sport utility vehicle to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy while maintaining consumer appeal. In 2009, the teams presented their vehicle designs and simulations. At this year’s competition each team must present a functioning prototype.
The 2010 year-ending tests began last week at the General Motors Desert Proving Grounds in Yuma, Ariz. There the teams battled long hours and grueling heat to prepare for safety and technical inspections and on-road tests. The year two competition concludes today in San Diego, Calif., with technical presentations.
Going into the year ending competitions, Mississippi State’s extended-range, plug-in hybrid vehicle was in fifth place overall, based on pre-competition points. The team placed third overall in the competition’s first year. Currently the team has earned:
• Best Team Website
• Best Creative Promotion of EcoCAR
• Best Media Relations
• Best Education
• First Place – Overall Outreach
• Third Place — Hardware-in-the-loop Evaluation
These six awards mark MSU as a leader heading into the final awards ceremony. The final year two awards will be presented at 8 a.m. PST tomorrow at the House of Blues in San Diego.