STARKVILLE — Renewable energy is often the elephant in the room when thinking of solutions to reduce dependence on foreign oil for everyday transportation.
Gas-electric hybrids, electric and hydrogen fuel systems have been developed over the years, but the solution to mass-production hasn’t yet been found.
Engineering students at Mississippi State University don’t have the answer just yet, but they’ll enter the working world better equipped to expedite the process.
Tuesday, during the inaugural “Movin’ Maroon” showcase, students showed off the rebuilt Chevrolet Equinox that was part of an EcoCAR competition that ended in June.
Through the Center of Advanced Vehicular Systems in MSU’s industrial research park, students designed a pair of alternative-fuel vehicles to compete in the three-year EcoCAR and four-year ChallengeX competitions.
MSU took sixth place overall in the EcoCAR Challenge, which included 13 schools in the United States and three from Canada. MSU won seven specialized awards in the competition.
Movin’ Maroon also featured other alternative fuel vehicles developed at CAVS, including Propane AutoGas vehicles and zero-emission idle-reduction systems for 18-wheelers.
“Our students have received national visibility for MSU and have exemplified the quality of our academic program,” CAVS professor Dr. Marshall Molen said. “MSU is now recognized as a premier source for automotive engineering that prepares engineers for tomorrow’s challenges.”
Like the other 15 universities involved in the EcoCAR challenge, MSU started with a yearlong planning and design phase to pick a clean propulsion platform and parts to fit the design. In Years 2 and 3, each team received a base Chevrolet Equinox vehicle and began stripping the vehicle’s motor and transmission as well as components that added unnecessary weight, like the spare tire. From there, they began integrating new parts into the vehicle. MSU’s EcoCAR was an extended-range, hybrid vehicle design, which has a lithium-ion battery as its main power plant and a diesel engine to recharge the battery after 60 miles of use.
“We know the parts are going to fit but we have to design and build the mounts for them,” said MSU mechanical engineering graduate student Tom Goddette. “That’s something we’ll machine ourselves, prove it’s safe and do computer designs on it to make sure the car will stay running and move forward from there.”
Tuesday, Goddette and classmates offered rides in the EcoCAR around the research park. The EcoCAR is surprisingly powerful, reaching 60 miles per hour in just 5.6 seconds. Additionally, it has an equivalent of 112 miles per gallon of gas.
Inside the vehicle, the traditional gauges were replaced with one digital speedometer and a touch screen information center housed where a stereo deck used to be. Through the info center, the driver can change vehicle power settings and know exactly how much power is going to each wheel. The software for the information, like the rest of the materials used, was produced in-house.
“Even though we have the research and everything going on, our No. 1 priority is the students,” CAVS director Dr. Roger King said. “That’s why we’re here. This gives the students a golden opportunity to get in and apply a lot of the things they’re learning in the class to real life work. It’s almost all undergraduates.
“When they come out of here, they get scooped up real quick by employers because they’ve really got the practical understanding.”
Tuesday also marked the official EcoCAR 2 recruitment seminar for interested students from any major. Though members of the first EcoCAR team were engineering majors, Goddette said there’s multiple roles students with diverse backgrounds can fill.
“We have chemical, electrical and software engineering majors and at least one representative from almost all of the business majors on the outreach team,” he said. “If someone wants to work on EcoCAR, we can find something for them to do.”
King said the most critical step for Mississippi is to raise awareness of establishing infrastructure to accommodate new, clean technology. With plug-in vehicles, he said the next step will be placing re-charging stations around the state. That kind of venture will have to be entrepreneurial, like an employer offering a parking garage with multiple charging stations to employees.
“Then you’re using more domestic sources of energy because you plug into the grid, where you may be getting energy from a coal plant, a nuclear plant, solar, wind, thermal — depending on where you’re at,” King said. “You”ll have a suite of energy sources instead of just one. We’re starting that awareness with what we’re doing at CAVS.”
CAVS, started in 2002 as part of the state’s incentive package for working with Nissan, had expenditures in excess of $20 million in 2010. CAVS has an extension center in Canton, where the Nissan plant is located. CAVS also has strong research products with German pipe manufacturer Wilhelm Schultz, located in Tunica, and heavy-duty truck manufacturer PACCAR, located in Columbus, to help support job growth around the state.
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