History

For more than 23 years, the US DOE has sponsored 28 Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC) through the Argonne National Laboratory. The competitions are structured to:

• Accelerate the development and demonstration of technologies of interest to DOE and the automotive industry,
• Provide the automotive industry with a new generation of engineering leaders with highly desirable experience, and
• Help prepare the market to accept advanced vehicle technologies.

Competition Details

The EcoCAR 2 competition spans across three years and follows GM’s Vehicle Development Process (VDP). The VDP serves as a roadmap for the process of designing, building and refining an advanced technology vehicle.

In the first year, the teams investigate a number of drive-train systems; using computer simulation, they will pick a specific system for the vehicle. Extensive testing will be done to integrate the power-train and various vehicle sub-systems. After successfully completing the first year, each team will receive a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu which they will build into an EcoCAR over years 2 and 3 of the competition.

In the second and third year of the competition, teams will turn their designs into reality. The teams will be forced to deal with a variety of challenges that come with the vehicle design process and the use of alternative fuels. At the end of the competition, teams will have used exciting new technologies, converted a stock vehicle into a alternatively-fueled EcoCAE, and maybe even furthered the world of automotive design.