The Ohio State University has pulled off a four-peat; the university’s team walked away as the winner of the EcoCar3 competition, which began four years ago.
The competition tasked university student teams from across the United States and Canada to build a sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro with a fuel-efficient powertrain, curb emissions and keep the pony car’s performance aspect intact. OSU scored 895 points out of a possible 1,000. The U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors sponsor the competition.
“This year the students excelled at both the pre-competition deliverable, the oral report, and the presentations,” said Ohio State team faculty adviser Shawn Midlam-Mohler. “Our students are able to build a great car, but they’re also able to communicate in both written and oral communication – the thought process, the design, the validation – all of that effort that goes into building a car.”
OSU’s winning announcement didn’t provide full details on the powertrain, but the student engineers managed to incorporate an electrically heated catalyst that reduced startup emissions by 85 percent. The OSU Camaro achieved 20 percent greater fuel economy than the runner-up, West Virginia University.
Now, the victorious students return home to Columbus, Ohio, with $33,000 to support the advanced vehicle technology program—and bragging rights.
Not only did OSU take home the win in EcoCar3, the university has swept all four competitions in past years.
Comments
O-H-I-O Baby… ?
That’s surprising to see them driving a Camaro. I live in Columbus and drive by OSU everyday and I’d estimate that 90% of the cars and cuvs are foreign. As for me, I drive Chevy.
Would love to know what the did to that vehicle and what powerplant was use, though, it was likely the turbo-4