EDTA 2008: GM shows off EcoCar Saturn Vue
click above image for a high-resolution gallery of the GM EcoCar
Last year, at the end of the Challenge X, GM announced the EcoCar competition for engineering students at universities in North America to rework a GM vehicle to be better and cleaner. The Challenge X teams worked on Chevrolet Equinoxes, but the EcoCar students will all be re-engineering Saturn Vues. In this first year of the competition, the teams are doing the theoretical design work, including life cycle analysis and mechanical, electrical and control work. Starting in June 2010, when Year 2 kicks off, the teams will get their mule vehicles and get to apply their strategies - whether they're pure electric, hydrogen, hybrid or PHEV. The EcoCar Vue on display here at the EDTA show in Washington, DC, then, isn't any different under the hood, it's just all fancy and decorated on the outside. More details on the EcoCar challenge here and here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Noel Liu 4:59PM (12/03/2008)
It's that a waste of time?
The Vue and the Equinox is the same thing underneath...
GM is just doing this for PR nothing more at least the ones b4 serve educational purposes....
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Joe 5:22PM (12/03/2008)
It's not a waste of time at all. Quite the opposite.
Of course GM is doing this for PR reasons. But they aren't the host sponsor, the Department of Energy is.
Changing to the Vue forces design efforts to start over, and allow the incorporation of new ideas stemmed from the ChallengeX competition.
Also, it still serves a very educational purpose. The competition is between college students. Its a 4 year competition, and it takes about 4 years to get through college. So you have a whole new batch of people starting EcoCar. The people who started ChallengeX are likely graduated.
In addition, this and competitions like it provide valuable real-world experience to students which you simply cannot get in a classroom.
BGJ 8:23AM (12/04/2008)
They are not the same vehicle underneath. They are similar, but far from the same. The family comparison is that they are "cousins", not "sisters".
Noel Liu 7:38PM (12/04/2008)
well yes they have some difference.
bust they are all on the GM Theta platform
the wheel base of the Chevy and the Ponitac is the same
the Saturn version have a shorter wheel base.
they for sure shared their engineering and design under the skin.
I just think GM should base this new EcoCar on a CAR and not just repeat what ChallengeX did.
It's not challenging for the students and unimaginative.
they could've done something with the Malibu or something along the line regarding the Volt's technology. not the volt directly but ways to help the extended range EV ideas.
Brandon 10:34AM (12/05/2008)
It's surely not the same competition. These students are being taught new hardware-in-the-loop and sofware-in-the-loop technologies that will place them years ahead of their fellow non-student-competition graduates.
The rules and the technologies will be different and far more advanced, when compared to previous competitions, including Challenge X.
It's absolutely challenging for the students. They have to juggle course load, social life, and 20-30 hours a week trying to design, build, and refine their prototype vehicles.
Also, year 2 starts in June 2009, not 2010. Year one started June 2008.
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