Challenge X -- GM, Dept. of Energy - GreenHybrid

bwilson4web · #1 (**permalink**) 11-22-2007, 06:40 PM

I stumbled across this program from a link in Design News:

http://www.challengex.org/default.htm

Quote:

. . . General Motors Corporation (GM), DOE, and other government and industry leaders have developed a new competition called Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility. This ground-breaking, three-year competition will give engineering schools an opportunity to participate in hands-on research and development with leading-edge automotive propulsion, fuels, materials, and emissions-control technologies.

Competition Objectives

Seventeen teams have been challenged to re-engineer a GM Equinox, a crossover sport utility vehicle to minimize energy consumption, emissions, and greenhouse gases while maintaining or exceeding the vehicle's utility and performance. Year 1 will focus on modeling, simulation, and testing of the vehicle powertrain and vehicle subsystems selected by each school. In June 2005, teams will come together to undergo extensive judging and evaluation. Teams will receive scores for five reports, a Pre-Competition Hardware Evaluation, an Oral Presentation, a Live Simulation Event, a Trade-Show Booth Event, a Control Strategy Oral Presentation, and K-12 Education Outreach Program. The teams that demonstrate a mastery of the key aspects of modeling their powertrain choice and constructing and controlling the powertrain will receive a donated GM Equinox after the June 2005 competition. Years 2 and 3 will require teams to develop and integrate their advanced powertrain and subsystems into a donated GM Equinox. At the conclusion of each of these competition years, teams will come together to undergo extensive judging and evaluation. Events will encompass energy use and emissions goals, vehicle utility and performance, engineering, and K-12 Education Outreach.
. . .

The results are in at:
http://www.challengex.org/new.html

The winning team, Mississippi State U. produced:

Engine: 1.9-L GM Direct Injection Turbo Diesel
Fuel: B20 Bio Diesel
Transmission: GM F40 6-speed manual
Energy storage: Johnson Controls, NiMH 330V
Motor: 45kW Ballard Integrated Power Transaxle

Quote:

. . .
Here are some additional highlights of the Challenge X vehicles:

Twelve teams are using biodiesel fuel (B20).
The University of Waterloo has a dedicated hydrogen fuel cell for its primary propulsion source, and as a result, their vehicle emits zero emissions from the tailpipe. The team is using compressed hydrogen.
Three teams – Pennsylvania State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Tulsa – are using hydrogen as a supplementary or secondary propulsion source. Penn State is injecting hydrogen into their vehicle’s diesel engine as an emissions abatement strategy. The Texas Tech and Tulsa teams are using hydrogen to power auxiliary systems for their vehicles.
The University of California at Davis is the only team to use plug-in hybrid technology for the energy source within their Challenge X vehicle. Their vehicle has an all-electric range on battery power.
The University of Michigan Challenge X team has developed a hydraulic hybrid, which stores pressurized fluid in large tanks from which the vehicle can extract or store energy much like a battery electric hybrid stores energy recovered from regenerative braking. Their vehicle also uses the electrical energy to propel the vehicle on electric-only power.
Two teams, Ohio State University and Virginia Tech, are using belt alternator/starter technology for an electric performance assist in their vehicles.
West Virginia University and the University of Akron are using ultracapacitors to source high levels of power for short periods of time and still recapture energy from braking. Ultracapacitors are more robust than batteries and can source more energy in operations, but can not store as much energy as a traditional battery.

The first year of the program, which began in 2004, focused on vehicle simulation and modeling and subsystem development and testing. In years two and three, students have been integrating their advanced powertrains and subsystems into the Chevrolet Equinox. In the fourth year, students will focus on customer acceptability and over-the-road reliability and durability of their advanced propulsion systems with real-world evaluation outside of the laboratory and proving ground environment.
. . .

Bob Wilson