As the U.S. government recently issued a mandate requiring all sport utility vehicles to meet the same emission standards as passenger cars, Penn State engineering students continued eight months of competition to design an environmentally friendly SUV.
Penn State is one of 15 top North American institutions competing to convert the gasoline power plant in the new Chevrolet Suburban to an alternative, cleaner propulsion system. The competition, called FutureTruck 2000, is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors. GM recently delivered a brand new Suburban to campus, one of the first models to roll off its assembly lines. In addition, each team was given $10,000 to finance their initial work.
Each team will attempt to modify the existing powertrain to dramatically increase the energy efficiency as measured by the total greenhouse gas emission of the vehicle. This must be achieved by maintaining the comfort, safety, features and performance consumers expect in this class of vehicle.
Penn State's SUV, dubbed "Power Lion," already had a head start on the field, building on the success of the award-winning "Electric Lion" hybrid electric vehicle. Among the other advanced engineering strategies being tested by the university teams are hydrogen fuel cells, space-age lightweight materials, advanced electronics and alternative fuels.
For more information, go to http://www.futuretruck.org/ on the Web.