Ohio State‘s Challenge X team is in Michigan this week for a competition among engineering schools to build an efficient hybrid vehicle.
Challenge X is a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and several other organizations and companies from the United Stated and Canada. The competition is limited to vehicle teams at 17 American and Canadian universities, all of whom are in their third year in the four-year race to convert a gasoline-based 2005 Chevrolet Equinox SUV into a hybrid vehicle maximizing fuel economy and emissions ratings and maintaining stock performance.
OSU team leader Kris Sevel, a master‘s degree student in mechanical engineering, says the Ohio State Challenge X vehicle is a biodiesel-electric hybrid. It consists of a 110-kilowatt, 1.9-liter diesel engine that runs off of biodiesel fuel; a 10.6-kilowatt, belted starter/alternator; a 67-kilowatt Ballard traction motor; and a 300-volt Panasonic nickel-metal hydride battery pack to power its two electric motors.
This year the team will focus on making the vehicle “world refined.” All participating teams at the seven-day battle at the GM Milford Proving Grounds near Detroit will have their tested and fine-tuned automobiles ready. Sevel says the competition will be a lot tougher this time; the number of participants rose from six last year to the full 17 this year. The competition ends June 7.
In the 2006 competition in Mesa, Ariz., the Ohio State Challenge X vehicle placed first in the MathWorks computer software “crossover to model-based design” and trailer tow categories, second place in the technical report and best realization of vehicle technical specifications categories, and third place in the outreach category. Overall, the team had a fourth-place finish nationally.
To read more about the Ohio State Challenge X team, visit www.osuchallengex.com. Follow the Challenge X competition at its official site, www.challengex.org.
