Science U campers witnessed a hands-on demonstration of Penn State’s EcoCAR Thursday morning as part of the Advance Vehicle Team’s participation in the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge contest.
The event — held at the Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Research Laboratory of the Larson Institute — showcased the hybrid vehicle to the visiting high school students.
Thursday’s demonstration was beneficial in showing the students the future of hybrid vehicle technology, said Mike Casper, a Penn State engineering professor.
“It’s nice to convey to students interested in science at this level, ‘Here is an application you can see and understand and see some exciting results,’ ” Casper said.
About 20 to 30 Science U campers — all current high school students — were in attendance, Casper said.
In addition to building a working vehicle, outreach is a vital part of the competition, EcoCAR Outreach Coordinator Allison Lilly said.
Penn State placed third in the EcoCAR competition in May and also won other awards for different aspects of the project, Lilly (junior-public relations) said.
For next year’s competition, the team is able to use events like Thursday’s Science U Camp demonstration as evidence of their outreach involvement, Casper said.
But the real benefit is seeing the kids learn about the vehicle and the different real-world possibilities available to them in college, Lilly said.
“The best part was just hearing how much these high school students were asking us questions about what we’re so passionate about,” Lilly said. “They were extremely interested in the program.”
The EcoCAR competition is a multi-year event that challenges 16 universities — including Penn State, the Ohio State University, and Virginia Tech — to build a hybrid extended range electric vehicle (EREV) that can also run on B20 biodiesel fuel.
Penn State’s EcoCAR team designed a hybrid front-wheel drive vehicle that runs off of an electric motor, Ben Koch said.
Koch (graduate-engineering science), a member of the EcoCAR drive train group, said the students were surprised how the car ran silently when using the batteries that power the electric motor.
When battery power runs low, a biodiesel motor is engaged which charges the batteries, Koch said.
Penn State placed third overall in the second round of the competition in May — but the team is already preparing for the third round next year by making improvements to the vehicle, Koch said.
“We weren’t getting as much power as we’d like,” Koch said.
The team — which includes electrical engineers, business and public relations majors — also receives help from General Motors (GM) in the form of monetary and technical support, Koch said.
GM and the Department of Energy sponsor the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge competition, Casper said. This year the team’s goal is to finally advance beyond third place in the competition, Casper said.
“Not only do we want to beat Ohio State, but we want to do the best we can,” he said.