GM, Energy Department, Mathworks launch EcoCAR Mobility Challenge (Video)

University student teams will adapt Chevy Blazer SUV for fuel-efficient, semi-autonomous driving.

Washington, D.C. – General Motors, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Mathworks have launched the fourth edition of the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge, a college level competition that pits student teams against each other to reimagine traditional cars as energy-saving alternatives.

The fourth edition of the competition will use a 2019 Chevy Blazer sport utility vehicle. Student teams will consider powertrain alternatives such battery power, hybrid systems, and advanced transmissions. New to the competition will be some autonomous function. SAE Level 2 autonomy allows automated steering, braking, and acceleration, however, drivers must be in active control of the vehicles.

The Ohio State University won the four-year EcoCAR 3 challenge earlier this year by converting a Chevy Camaro into a plug-in hybrid.

While the competition is primarily an engineering challenge, other disciplines participate as well. Public relations and journalism students promote team activities, marketing students study customer acceptance of some adjustments to vehicles, and business students work on cost and manafacturability questions.

The first of the four-year competition focuses on design issues. In the following years, student teams integrate systems into a Blazer contributed by GM. Drive tests and races follow. Judges evaluate students throughout each year of the competition.

The university participants for the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge are:

• Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colorado)
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, Florida)
• Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Georgia)
• McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
• Mississippi State University (Starkville, Mississippi)
• The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio)
• University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
• University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, Tennessee)
• University of Washington (Seattle, Washington)
• University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia)
• West Virginia University (Morgantown, West Virginia)