The U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks Announce the EcoCAR EV Challenge

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), General Motors and MathWorks today 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 premier 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.  She added, "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.

"EcoCAR provides the resources to transform a university's engineering school to be on the cutting edge of engineering education", said Wahl. "The challenges EcoCAR students will face and learn to overcome will ultimately contribute to their future as leaders in the automotive industry."  

For more background about the EcoCAR EV Challenge, please visit ecocarEVchallenge.org.

About EcoCAR EV Challenge:

EcoCAR EV Challenge is a premier collegiate automotive engineering competition that will challenge up to 14 North American universities to engineer a next-generation battery electric vehicle with connected and automated features to meet energy efficiency targets and customer needs for a personal consumer market application. The four-year program will reflect industry-best practices with expanded focus on model-based design, vehicle connectivity, and automated controls development. EcoCAR will include a major focus on equity in mobility and DE&I in STEM to help foster clean energy mobility solutions and opportunities for all.

Managed by Argonne National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy and co-headline sponsored by General Motors and MathWorks, this government and industry partnership will build the clean energy workforce of the future by enabling the next generation of engineers and business leaders to help solve our nation's toughest mobility challenges.

Contact: Kimberly DeClark, EcoCAR, (202) 441-0096

SOURCE EcoCAR EV Challenge