The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), General Motors and MathWorks have announced the launch of the EcoCAR EV Challenge, the latest DOE-sponsored Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) series. The program, which will kick-off in fall of 2022, is now accepting applications from universities with ABET-accredited engineering programs.
EcoCAR is a collegiate automotive competition aimed at developing a highly-skilled clean mobility workforce that reflects the diversity of our nation, by providing hands-on experience designing and building next-generation mobility solutions to meet the decarbonization needs of the automotive industry.
“The EcoCAR EV Challenge provides the ultimate training ground for future engineers and business leaders to work on some of the toughest technical challenges facing the automotive industry,” said Kristen Wahl, director of the AVTC program at Argonne National Laboratory. “Students not only gain an unparalleled experiential learning experience, but also highly coveted jobs with top employers. EcoCAR also enables multidisciplinary collaboration across a university and serves as a catalyst for automotive-related curriculum and R&D.”
Up to 14 North American teams will be selected to participate, with four years to design and engineer a next-generation battery electric vehicle that utilizes automation and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity to implement energy-efficient and customer-appealing features. The competition will also challenge teams to apply innovative solutions to address equity and electrification challenges in the future of mobility and implement advanced powertrain, charging, and thermal systems to use grid electricity intelligently.
Teams will follow a real-world vehicle development process to meet rigorous technical milestones throughout the program and will compete head-to-head with other teams in annual competition finals, with the series culminating in the summer of 2026.
