|
 he final numbers are in and the winners of the FutureTruck 2000 competition are official. Fifteen university engineering teams spent two blistering weeks under the Arizona sun, where teams of experts evaluated their experimental, high-tech, "super trucks" of the future. And the biggest winners of this contest so far are everyone who cares about cleaner air and fuel conservation.
 Two
universities in particular, the University of Maryland and West
Virginia University, turned in such strong performances they
ended up tied for first place overall in this year's competition.
One of Maryland's strongest events was on-road fuel economy,
where it demonstrated a 12 percent increase over the fuel economy
of the stock Chevrolet Suburban. West Virginia earned its strongest
score in the greenhouse gas impact evaluation, where it showed
a 23 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions compared to
the stock vehicle.
Each of the
top finishing universities achieved these results while maintaining
much of the overall performance of the original production-model
Chevrolet Suburban.
The third
place finisher, Virginia Tech, designed a FutureTruck capable
of using a hydrogen fuel cell as its main power source. Fourth
place finisher, the University of California at Davis, demonstrated
the highest on-road equivalent fuel economy. At 18.7 miles per
gallon, this is a 13 percent increase over the stock Suburban.
With material,
technical and financial support from General Motors and the US
Department of Energy, 15 university teams from the United States
and Canada took on the task of reinventing the sport utility
vehicle. They are creating designs for the "super truck"
of the near future.
The challenge
was to maintain all the "truck-ness" - the ability
to carry cargo and pull heavy loads such as trailers while reducing
fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. With gasoline
hitting unheard-of prices in recent months in the United States,
reducing fuel consumption in large vehicles such as these takes
on increased significance.
"The
first year of this competition has been a real 'everybody wins'
situation," said Mark Maher, Director of Powertrain Systems
for General Motors Truck Group. "The student team members
are leaving here with incredible experience in advanced automotive
technologies, GM has developed great recruiting opportunities
for the best talent, and the rest of the country will eventually
benefit from the types of cleaner, more efficient technologies
we're seeing here."
The entire
world has already had a preview of these FutureTruck strategies.
Thanks to the other headline sponsor, Yahoo! Inc., portions of
the competition were made available worldwide through live webcasts.
Anyone with an internet connection was able to log on, right
from their desktop, and watch each team describe their vehicle
design and the various strategies they were using to create their
FutureTruck.
Each team
began their project with the same building blocks. General Motors
donated a brand new Chevrolet Suburban and $10,000 to get each
team started. Then GM and DOE provided technical and logistical
support as the universities worked their way through the endless
challenges along the road to higher fuel economy and lower greenhouse
gas emissions.
The Department
of Energy has, for many years, supported and sponsored advanced
technology automotive programs. DOE sees this support as an important
factor in reducing dependence on imported oil and addressing
the strategic disadvantages of that dependence. The fuel needs
of motor vehicles create America's single, largest demand for
petroleum. FutureTruck and other advanced automotive projects
provide a cost-effective, practical way to address that demand
for fuel and, at the same time, develop strategies for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
The FutureTruck
teams competed in more than a dozen technical events. They were
evaluated on safety, performance, towing ability, greenhouse
gas emissions, fuel economy, consumer acceptability and other
areas. Every vehicle demonstrated innovative approaches to the
fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission challenge.
This year,
the first of a two year project based on the Chevrolet Suburban
platform, produced some specific award-winning performances in
several categories:
Overall Scores:
- First: West Virginia University, University
of Maryland (tie);
- Third: Virginia Tech;
- Fourth: University of California at Davis;
- Fifth: University of Wisconsin-Madison;
- Sixth: Ohio State University.
Other
Awards included:
- Lowest Greenhouse Gas Emissions: West Virginia
University;
- Best Acceleration: Georgia Tech;
- Best On-The-Road Fuel Economy: University
of California at Davis;
- Best Off-Road Performance: University of
Maryland;
- Best Use of Advanced Technologies: Michigan
Tech;
- Best Consumer Acceptability: Virginia Tech.
General
Motors, the US Department of Energy and Yahoo! Inc. are the headline
sponsors of FutureTruck 2000. Other sponsors include the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the National Science Foundation;
the Aluminum Association; Automotive Testing Laboratories, Inc.;
Delphi Automotive Systems; Natural Resources Canada; the Governors'
Ethanol Coalition; the Renewable Fuels Association; the National
Biodiesel Board and Newark Electronics. General Motors is supplying
vehicles, seed money and prize money to the universities for
this first stage of competition. Ford Motor Company will replace
General Motors as the automotive sponsor in the second two years
of competition, while the US Department of Energy, through Argonne
National Laboratory, provides financial, organizational and technical
support.
Competing
universities include: Concordia University; Cornell University;
George Washington University; Georgia Institute of Technology;
Michigan Technological University; Ohio State University; Penn
State University; Texas Tech University; University of California,
Davis; University of Idaho; University of Maryland; University
of Tennessee; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Virginia Tech;
and West Virginia University. 
|
