What is EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge?

EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge is a three-year collegiate advanced vehicle technology engineering competition established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM), and is being managed by Argonne National Laboratory. The competition builds on the 19-year history of the Department of Energy (DOE) advanced vehicle technology competitions by giving engineering students the chance to design and build advanced vehicles that demonstrate leading-edge automotive technologies, with the goal of minimizing the environmental impact of personal transportation and illustrating pathways to a sustainable transportation future.

Teams from 17 North American universities are challenged to convert a GM-donated vehicle into an hybrid, fuel cell, or electric vehicle while maintaining comfort and operation on the road. The first year of the competition involved designing and modeling a proposed vehicle architecture and related component selection. Year Two has begun with General Motors donating a new Saturn Vue to each school (Fall 2009). In Years Two and Three, students will translate their design into reality and develop a working vehicle that meets the competition’s goals. The teams come together at the end of each academic year to compete against the other university teams in more than a dozen static and dynamic events.

Check out the official EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge website. Read about Challenge X, the predecessor to EcoCAR.

Learn more about each team and their progress at www.green-garage.org, a virtual portal of the competition. The garage has become an icon of innovation, emblematic of a spirit of invention that gives us hope that together we can overcome any challenge. Through the doors of Green Garage become a witness of the EcoCAR Challenge. We can change the world one garage at a time!

Year Two: The Team Has Moved on to the Physical Stage of the Competition

Year Two has begun with receiving a General Motors donated vehicle. UVic EcoCAR team celebrated its arrival with the Unveiling Event on November 12, 2009. Shortly before Christmas, the team took delivery of innovative prismatic lithium ion battery modules and control systems, donated by A123 Systems. The team will now integrate the battery system into the GM-donated vehicle with the goal of increasing its fuel efficiency and lessening its environmental impact.




We Need Volunteers!

University of Victoria is aiming to prove they are automotive eco-engineers who will design and build the environmental vehicles of the future. Due to the significant size of this project, we are actively seeking volunteers from the engineering department and students from other faculties to volunteer for the coordination and completion of the competition's tasks. EcoCAR is based on a real-world integrated vehicle design and development process. Our team is developing the vehicle following a modified GM Global Vehicle Development Process (GVDP) for each phase of the three-year competition. The skills and experience learned in this competition are valuable for all team members and their future careers.

Contact the team here for more details. Become a member of UVic EcoCAR Team and help us build the environmental vehicle of the future!