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Counting Down to Chevrolet’s 100-year Anniversary!

July 29, 2011 in Green Auto News, Sponsor Post by ggguestuser | No comments

General Motors has reason to celebrate! On November 3, Chevrolet, one of the most famous brands under GM, will commemorate its centennial. The important milestone for GM represents 100 years of automotive heritage in the United States and Chevrolet has certainly made impressive strides in the industry. Nowadays, Chevrolet is known for innovation with fuel efficiency, plug-in electric vehicles, and expressive design. To learn more about the centennial celebration, visit Chevy 100.

The EcoCAR 2 teams are incredibly excited to work with a new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, donated by General Motors, as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design. You could even say that the teams’ work with the vehicle is their own way of celebrating the Chevrolet brand.

Cheers to you, Chevrolet!

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EcoCARs Unleashed… It’s Autocross Time!

June 13, 2011 in EcoCAR News, Video Blogs by ggguestuser | No comments

After years of designing, building, and testing, the EcoCAR vehicles finally got to truly cut loose in Milford this week as they experienced the Autocross. Professional GM drivers took each EcoCAR on four laps through a high-speed course to test its handling. Mississippi State came away with the fastest single lap, but the University of Waterloo was only milliseconds behind!

When the competitive testing was finished, team members had the opportunity to drive their cars on the Autocross. Later, teams headed to the General Motors Driving Experience, where they were able to test drive 40 GM vehicles through another handling course.

Check out this video for a closer look at EcoCAR’s exciting day of Autocross:

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Mentor Pete Maloney’s Perspective on EcoCAR

June 3, 2011 in Sponsor Post by ggguestuser | No comments

Throughout the years that I have worked in the automotive and engineering industries, public concern over limited natural resources and environmental impact related to motor vehicle use have resulted in ever more stringent emission and fuel economy legislation.  Engineers have reacted to legislative requirements by pursuing the option of using multiple energy sources as a way of reducing overall impact.

The stated mission of EcoCar is to find new ways to reduce the environmental impact of motor vehicles and prepare future engineering leaders for that task by providing them with industrial experience in the application of state-of-art tools and processes required to design and field prototype hybrid vehicles that meet the goals of EcoCar.

Over the last 10 years that I have been involved with EcoCar and its earlier forms, it has been very gratifying to see that the gap between industry and university practice in hybrid development has narrowed significantly, due in part to General Motors’ (GM) requirement that EcoCAR students follow the GM development process with existing refined subsystems as a starting-point.

Students are successfully using Model-Based Design tools to develop complex large-scale control systems, making many subsystems work together.  In the near future, it is my hope that we can move beyond this level and into a new phase where subsystems play optimally together, first through thorough and uniform application of numerical optimization to offline simulation models, and later to the application of embedded real-time optimizers that lead to optimal performance in real-world driving conditions. One or more existing production hybrids already have effective embedded optimizers, so it will not be a surprise to see the majority of EcoCar teams in the future with such capabilities.

The continued adoption of industrial control design tools and processes into university curriculums across subject areas will better reflect the reality that today’s engineered systems are inherently multi-discipline, and provide industry with engineering leaders ready to meet the difficult control design challenges we face.

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And the EcoCAR 2 Vehicle Will Be…

April 12, 2011 in EcoCAR News by ggguest | No comments

…the Chevrolet Malibu!

Today, Karl Stracke, CEO of Opel/Vauxhall at General Motors and the general chairman of SAE 2011 World Congress, announced the vehicle choice during the conference keynote address. The 16 EcoCAR 2 teams will utilize the Chevrolet Malibu as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design throughout the EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future competition. For the next three years, student engineers at select schools will use hybrid electric powertrains, adaptive control systems and advanced battery technologies to reduce the vehicles’ environmental impact without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

The vehicle EcoCAR 2 teams will get to reengineer: a Chevy Malibu

Tomorrow, David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy & International Affairs at DOE, will be announce the elite teams selected to participate in the EcoCAR 2 program, so be sure to check back for the full list of schools!

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Georgia Tech Gets Some Expert Advice on Transmission Refinement

March 7, 2011 in EcoCAR News, Team Posts by ggguest | No comments

The Georgia Tech team has done a lot of exciting work on their EcoCAR’s control system lately. The vehicle has been drivable for several months now and the drive quality was recently improved by updating accelerator pedal mapping in accordance with AVL recommendations.

The group has held multiple conference calls with General Motors and other 2Mode teams to share ideas and help resolve issues they’ve encountered as they attempt to get the maximum capabilities out of their transmission. Currently Georgia Tech is in the progress of test-driving in EVT2, the second hybrid mode available in their transmission, and they hope to resolve the issue of keeping the engine off for electric-only operation within the next couple of weeks.

The team also expects to add more refinements to their control strategy in order to boost performance for the Spring Workshop.

Stay tuned to read about how the team fares in Ann Arbor!

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New Kid on the Block: The Chevrolet Volt is a Game Changer

February 9, 2011 in Green Auto News by ggguest | 1 comment

As expected, it didn’t take long for Chevrolet’s Volt to turn the heads of car-enthusiasts everywhere.  Within a month of its release, GM’s newest hybrid car has won several awards, including 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year and Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year.  With sales anticipated to skyrocket, Chevrolet has already announced that they plan to double manufacturing, releasing over 100,000 units nationwide by 2012.

Considered the stepping stone to an automobile revolution, the electric car’s release was met with enormous buzz and expectations.  The list of features is impressive – automatic seat warmers, a Bose Energy Efficient Series sound system, and a seven-inch LCD-screen panel that presents driving feedback and estimated electric and gas ranges – but the most appealing aspect of the car is probably its multi-faceted engine.  A lithium-ion battery pack allows the Volt to travel up to 40 miles on pure electricity while a gasoline reserve powers the electric motors and fuels an internal generator.  As expected with a green car, the Volt’s energy ratings are impressive.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated the car’s overall fuel economy rating to be 60 mpg, the highest in its segment (the car’s all-electric mode is 93 mpg and all-gas mode is 37 mpg).

Chevy Volt

Chevrolet Volt (Image courtesy of Chevrolet.com)

Some experts believe that plug-in cars will catch fire in a similar fashion to other recent technological innovations such as smartphones and flat-screen TVs.  It may be a slow start – the number of available refueling stations initially limited the release of the Volt to select states – but the combination of environmental friendliness and financial benefits will soon propel these vehicles up the ladder.  Buckle your seatbelts; the roads are about to change!

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GM and Argonne National Lab Join Forces to Improve the Chevy Volt

January 21, 2011 in Green Auto News by ggguest | 1 comment

The Green Garage is excited to report that Argonne National Laboratory has signed a licensing agreement with General Motors for the automaker to test its patented composite cathode material that could improve lithium-ion battery life and energy storage density! The material could allow batteries to hold their charge longer, have a longer total life and charge at higher voltages. GM’s interest in the material could help to improve the efficiency of its next-generation of electric vehicles.

The New York Times recently interviewed GM spokesperson, Rob Peterson, who explained that a few years ago GM “started down the path of trying to understand batteries as well as [it] possibly could.” He went on to say that understanding new developments in battery technology will determine “who becomes the leader in electric vehicles.”  GM has the largest battery test lab facility in the industry and views battery leadership as a core competency of the company.

Being the first American car company to license use of Argonne’s technology puts GM in a very good position to potentially improve the performance of future electric models.

We are thrilled that Argonne and GM have a strong EcoCAR presence because both companies, like all those involved in the competition, are on the cutting edge of advanced vehicle technologies!

Argonne battery researcher perfecting the novel material

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North American Car of the Year: The Chevy Volt

January 14, 2011 in Green Auto News by ggguest | No comments

The experts have voted and the 2011 North American Car of the Year is… General Motors’ Chevy Volt! Vehicles were judged by a group of 49 auto journalists who considered innovation, performance design and safety among other factors. The winner was announced today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Although this is an amazing accomplishment, the Chevy Volt is not new to the spotlight.  It was named car of the year by Automobile Magazine and Motor Trend and was also recognized as the Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November!

Image courtesy of GM

“It’s a great honor to be recognized as the North American Car of the Year,” said GM CEO Dan Akerson. “Since development began, we believed the Volt had the potential to transform the automotive industry. Today, the Volt is the first electric vehicle to win the prestigious North American Car of the Year award, and the first vehicle ever to receive the industry’s highest automotive, technology, and environmental recognitions.”

Many believe the Volt is setting the pace for the future, what do you think? Share your comments below!

Learn lots more about the Volt by checking out: 10 Facts about the Volt on GreenCar.com.

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Where Are They Now: Lifelong Learner Fueled By AVTCs

September 22, 2010 in EcoCAR News by ggguest | No comments

Where Are They Now this week highlights Mel Corrigan (previously Mel Fox), a Penn State and Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) alum who has spent her impressive academic career focused on Fuel Science research which ultimately led to her current position working on one of the most exciting innovations in vehicle technology.

Mel Corrigan began her undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at Penn State-Altoona.  Throughout her time at Altoona, she participated in the Society for Automotive Engineering Mini Baja competition.  During her junior year, she moved to the Penn State-University Park campus, where she became involved in undergraduate research studies focusing on diesel exhaust aftertreatment.

While studying at Penn State, Mel interned at Toyota Motor Mfg. in Georgetown, Kentucky in their Facilities Controls Engineering department where she compiled weekly utility consumption reports for the nine plants at the facility.  At that time, Mel also took part in the Energy Team, examining methods of improving energy consumption for vehicle manufacturing processes.

In 2002, Mel obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering at Wayne State University where she worked in an engine lab studying diesel combustion, She also participated in a National Science Foundation (NSF) project to create safety-related exercises for chemical engineering textbooks.

Mel entered graduate school at Penn State in 2003, starting with a Master’s of Science in Fuel Science.  Her research focused on performing three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics of combustion in a coal-fired boiler.

After completing her Master’s degree, Mel decided to continue her studies and obtain her Ph. D. in Fuel Science.  She shifted gears in her research, moving from modeling to experiments and then began studying the effects of intake-induced turbulence on the combustion characteristics of hydrogen assisted natural gas combustion in a spark-ignition engine.

Mel (Fox) Corrigan

Mel became involved with the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Technologies team during Challenge X. During her graduate studies, Mel received a two-year fellowship that required her to do weekly science outreach in K-12 classrooms.  This program, GREATT (Graduate Research and Education in Advanced Transportation Technologies), soon lead her to become the controls team leader for Penn State team in Year Two and the overall team leader during Year Three.

After completing a twelve-week internship in the Powertrain Systems Research group at General Motors during which she lead a project sampling and characterizing particulate matter from diesel combustion, Mel landed her first job with GM.

Mel now works as a Battery System Integration Engineer for the Chevy Volt.  She continues to support advanced vehicle technology competitions and acts as a judge for EcoCAR at workshops and competitions.  EcoCAR is not only thrilled to utilize Mel’s professional expertise, but also grateful to have her perspective as a former competitor as EcoCAR ushers in Year Three.

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Georgia Tech Fine-tunes its EcoCAR with the Help of GM

August 24, 2010 in Team Posts by ggguest | No comments

The Georgia Tech EcoCAR team just ended their third week at the General Motors Milford Proving Grounds. During the first week, the team overcame several issues that got them to the point where they could try to start the EcoCAR’s engine. However after turning it over, the team noticed that it was not producing torque. It had been broken and they had to replace it. On Georgia Tech’s second trip, team members had to replace the engine, which involved taking out all the components in the whole front end of the car. By the end of the second trip, they still had to resolve some mechanical issues before trying to run the engine. On the most recent trip to the Proving Grounds, the team fixed the mechanical issues and were able to spin the EcoCAR’s wheels using only electrical motors for the first time after reinstalling the whole front end of the car. On the final day, GM helped Georgia Tech turn on its engine and watch the state of charge go up,  showing that the battery pack was charged with the engine. 

With GM’s analysis of the team’s vehicle data, they hope to discover what adjustments need to be made so they can reliably control when the engine turns on and to finally start driving the vehicle. Georgia Tech is very appreciative of the invaluable assistance and education that GM has provided to them; not only during their time in Milford, but throughout the entire competition. They look forward to getting the car back to Atlanta and gearing up for Year Three of the competition!

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