ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270131
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: 66 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
THIS AWARD-WINNER has two motors, does 0-60 in 12 seconds, runs on batteries and propane - and barbecues.
With a modified Chevrolet Lumina that gets more than 49 miles per gallon in city traffic, a team of Virginia Tech engineering students has taken the lead after the first year of the FutureCar Challenge, a national student design competition.
Sponsors of the competition - the U.S. Department of Energy and Chrysler, General Motors and Ford, the three major U.S. automakers - challenged student teams from a dozen of the nation's top engineering schools. The goal is to design "super" fuel-efficient cars without sacrificing comfort, safety, affordability and consumer acceptance.
Judging at the midpoint of the two-year competition was conducted June 17-24 in Dearborn, Mich., where Tech not only finished ahead in overall rankings, but also placed first in several individual categories: energy efficiency, lowest emissions and best use of alternative fuels. The team brought back $16,500 in prize money.
About 50 Tech undergraduate and graduate students - primarily mechanical and electrical engineering majors - made up Tech's team, under the guidance of faculty adviser Doug Nelson, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. Students can participate in the competition for course credit and use it as their senior "capstone" project, Nelson said.
Randy Senger, a team co-leader and a graduate student in mechanical engineering from Augusta County, explained that the contest gives students hands-on experience in applying their classwork.
"It's not just mechanic work," Nelson added. When the students break something, they've got to find out why and learn from their failures, he said.
Another value of the competition, Nelson said, is that it requires teamwork by students from various engineering disciplines. Companies who recruit Tech's engineering students are looking for those who have that kind of teamwork experience, he said.
The competition is the student version of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a national effort begun three years ago that combines the resources of the federal government, U.S. automakers and universities to design highly fuel-efficient family cars.
The country benefits from such student competitions, Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary has said, because they create new jobs, help U.S. industry compete globally and help find ways to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
In second and third place behind Tech this year were Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Mich., and the University of Wisconsin. Also competing were Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, University of Maryland, University of California-Davis and West Virginia University.
At the beginning of the competition last fall, each of the university teams was given either a Dodge Intrepid, a Ford Taurus or a Lumina - and $10,000.
Local businesses also have contributed to Tech's effort, including American Electric Power Co., Virginia Power, General Electric's Drive Systems division, Ferebee Johnson Hose & Fitting in Salem, and North Main Auto and Corning Glass in Blacksburg.
No restrictions were put on the type of propulsion system contestants could install in their vehicles, but the Tech team stuck with a hybrid electric design they had used in a previous contest and improved on it. An electric motor and drive system donated by the GE plant in Salem was installed in the Lumina beside a three-cylinder Geo Metro engine.
The small engine, which the students rigged to run on propane instead of gasoline, is used solely to operate a generator to recharge the batteries for the electric motor. A small computer designed by an electrical engineering student lets the electric motor and charging engine work smoothly together.
After they figured a way to get the tandem motor and engine and assorted parts fitted under the hood, the students were as surprised as anyone that it worked fine, Senger said. "We think we've got a really good design here," he said.
The car's tank holds 16 gallons of propane, which is equivalent in energy output to about 13 gallons of gasoline. The car will go from 0 to 60 mph in 12 seconds with a top speed of 75. It has been known to leave more than 24 feet of rubber on the pavement, the students confided.
The Tech car gets 49.2 miles per gallon in the city and 40 mpg on the highway, unlike traditional gasoline-powered vehicles, which generally get their best mileage on the open road. The car's range on a tank of fuel is about 600 miles, well above the minimum 250-mile range the cars were required to achieve in the competition's first year.
In the final year of the competition, the cars must have at least a 350-mile range and more luggage space, and their heating and air-conditioning systems must undergo complete testing, Nelson said.
The Tech car uses 700 pounds of batteries, about half what a normal all-electric vehicle requires, but they still take up much of the trunk space.
The trunk still has some room left for luggage, though, and has something that other cars don't have: a propane fitting students have used to plug in a barbecue grill. One suggested that it's perfect for those Hokie football tailgate parties.
On the trunk lid, the letters L-U-M-I-N-A have been re-arranged to spell A-N-I-M-U-L.
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM Staff. Curtis Jacks (left front), Randallby CNBSenger (left rear) and Matt Merkle helped make it go.