WASHINGTON — A Chevrolet Equinox turned parallel hybrid has won the Challenge X alt-energy vehicle competition. The Equinox is powered by a 1.9-liter direct-injection turbodiesel engine fueled by biodiesel. The winning team was from Mississippi State University, for the second year in a row.
Teams of engineering students from North America competed to re-engineer a stock Equinox to get better fuel economy and lower greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing performance, utility or safety.
"Challenge X has been much more than just a race to see who takes home the 1st-place trophy," said Beth Lowery, GM environment, energy and safety policy vice president, writing in the GM FastLane blog on Wednesday. "It is also part of an international race to find new choices to our current reliance on oil to supply the world's automotive energy requirements."
In a fascinating footnote, GM said it has hired "more than 50 of the student competitors" in the four years of Challenge X.
The next competition, which will use the 2009 Saturn Vue, has been dubbed "EcoCAR." GM said students who participate in this competition will design and build "advanced propulsion solutions based on the vehicle categories from the California Air Resources Board's zero-emissions vehicle regulations."
"This will be a tall order," Lowery said, "because meeting these standards is virtually impossible with the mass-production zero-emissions vehicle technology automakers have available today. We're basically challenging the EcoCAR teams to find a way to produce zero-emissions vehicle technology (fuel cell, battery electric, etc.) that consumers can afford to buy, and that manufacturers can build at scale affordability."
What this means to you: Stay tuned to see what the best engineering brains in North America come up with for EcoCAR. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Teams of engineering students from North America competed to re-engineer a stock Equinox to get better fuel economy and lower greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing performance, utility or safety.
"Challenge X has been much more than just a race to see who takes home the 1st-place trophy," said Beth Lowery, GM environment, energy and safety policy vice president, writing in the GM FastLane blog on Wednesday. "It is also part of an international race to find new choices to our current reliance on oil to supply the world's automotive energy requirements."
In a fascinating footnote, GM said it has hired "more than 50 of the student competitors" in the four years of Challenge X.
The next competition, which will use the 2009 Saturn Vue, has been dubbed "EcoCAR." GM said students who participate in this competition will design and build "advanced propulsion solutions based on the vehicle categories from the California Air Resources Board's zero-emissions vehicle regulations."
"This will be a tall order," Lowery said, "because meeting these standards is virtually impossible with the mass-production zero-emissions vehicle technology automakers have available today. We're basically challenging the EcoCAR teams to find a way to produce zero-emissions vehicle technology (fuel cell, battery electric, etc.) that consumers can afford to buy, and that manufacturers can build at scale affordability."
What this means to you: Stay tuned to see what the best engineering brains in North America come up with for EcoCAR. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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