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Welcome to Virginia Tech's EcoCAR Team Website
For the past 14 years, the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) has provided students with the opportunity to research, develop, and build actual hybrid vehicles. With EcoCAR, HEVT plans to continue its efforts in demonstrating the potential to create sustainable mobility while retaining vehicle performance, utility and safety. The team will evaluate the base gasoline vehicle as a comparison, select a fuel based both on well-to-tank factors using GREET, and tank-to-wheel factors from powertrain/fuel technologies, and decide which approach best meets the selection criteria of reduced vehicle environmental impact. The fuels evaluated will include RFG, E85, B20, grid electricity, and hydrogen. Vehicle technologies that will be considered include electric traction systems, full hybrid powertrain systems, and various fuel converters including fuel cells. All of these technologies are within the experience of HEVT. The end result of this process will be a vehicle design that, when compared to the base vehicle, significantly reduces total energy consumption, minimizes petroleum energy consumption, has less overall criteria air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions, and maintains or exceeds consumer acceptable performance, utility, and safety. The implementation of the design will require critical timeline and budget constraints to meet deliverables and produce working, tested and safe systems in a vehicle with validated models and data. The most important result of EcoCAR will be the graduating engineers that have the hands-on, real-world educational experience needed to contribute to the North American automotive industry in the 21st century.
The opportunity to collaborate with the sponsors in an international challenge to develop and demonstrate sustainable automotive technology is a privilege and an honor. HEVT has enthusiastically accepted this NeXt Challenge and is proud to have the opportunity to compete in EcoCAR. The team has the support knowledge, experience and determination necessary to produce a truly competitive and innovative hybrid vehicle.
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