University of Waterloo Wins First-Year GM and DOE Challenge X Competition
June 13, 2005
General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy, lead sponsors for the Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility engineering competition, congratulated students from the University of Waterloo, who recently took top honors in the first-year competition.
The Waterloo team, located in Ontario, Canada, was among 17 universities from across North America that created a virtual advanced propulsion technology vehicle solution with the goal of improving on-road fuel economy and reducing emissions. The Waterloo team's propulsion technology design is a series fuel cell hybrid that uses a Hydrogenics polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell engine with a COBASYS 288-volt nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery and a Ballard 54-kilowatt electric drive. The design will be engineered into a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox in years two and three of the Challenge X competition.
The second-place advanced propulsion technology solution, designed by students at the University of Akron, is a through-the-road parallel hybrid with a 1.9-liter Volkswagen turbo direct-injection (TDI) engine that runs on biodiesel fuel and a Ballard 65-kilowatt/45-kilowatt drive motor. The Ohio State University was awarded third place overall with their design for a through-the-road parallel biodiesel hybrid that uses a Panasonic NiMH battery and a 1.9-liter Fiat 110-kilowatt compression-ignition direct-injection (CIDI) engine.
Learn more about the first-year competition results.