The
Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC Inc.) has recently become a
competition-level sponsor for the EcoCAR 2 Year Three emissions testing event,
where TRC Inc. will be providing the facilities, resources and testing
expertise. EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future is a
three-year collegiate engineering competition and the only program of its
kind. The competition’s mission is a
vital one: offer an unparalleled hands-on, real-world experience to educate the
next generation of automotive engineers.
The competition challenges 15 universities across North America to
reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising
performance, safety and consumer acceptability.
Two TRC Inc.
representatives will travel to San Diego, California in May 2013, joining
representatives from government and industry organizations, to judge the Mechanical
and Business portions of the EcoCAR 2 Year Two competition finals. The Mechanical presentations will be focused
on the build and initial testing of the EcoCAR vehicle, while the Business
presentations will cover the teams’ entire year of business activities and
results.
The EcoCAR 2
Year Three emissions testing event will take place at TRC in Spring 2014, where
all competition vehicles will be allowed several hours of testing time on a 2
or 4-wheel-drive chassis dynamometer with full emissions measurement
capability. This event will ultimately
give teams vital testing time in a controlled environment to provide valuable
data for vehicle control strategy calibration and improvement as well as for
EcoCAR student theses and dissertations.
During the
three-year program, EcoCAR 2 teams will follow a real-world Vehicle Development
Process (VDP) modeled after GM’s VDP.
The VDP serves as a roadmap for the engineering process of designing,
building and refining their advanced technology vehicles. Following a VDP will
give the teams an opportunity to improve their vehicles efficiency while
retaining consumer acceptability, performance and safety.
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