OSU EcoCAR 2 team hosts Spring Safety Inspection at CAR--first time for a group on-site inspection!

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The OSU EcoCAR 2 team is wrapping up an intense week of work. The team and CAR were site hosts for the EcoCAR 2 Spring Safety Inspection. The EcoCAR 2 competition, which involves 15 colleges and universities from throughout North America, held the inspection in preparation for the Year 2 Spring Competition in May.

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This year for the first time, schools shipped their vehicles to one of three host sites with technical administrators visiting these sites to inspect the vehicles. In the past inspections took place at each college or university. The first site visit of 2013 was March 5-7 at the Ohio State Center for Automotive Research (CAR). Technical administrators from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) setup headquarters at CAR during the inspection. As students, each of these had been part of a previous installment of the Department of Energy's Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions series.

Along with the EcoCAR 2 team, five other teams shipped their vehicles to OSU CAR for the inspection: Penn State, Purdue, Waterloo, Rose-Hulman and Wayne State. Team members from these schools came to CAR the day of their vehicle's inspection to receive feedback.

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The results of the non-competitive inspection are provided to each team and advisor for implementation before the Year 2 Spring Competition in May at the GM Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona. The OSU EcoCAR team plans to continue their weekend workdays in preparation for the competition.

Shawn Midlam-Mohler, faculty advisor of the OSU EcoCAR 2 team, “It has been a great experience hosting the visiting EcoCAR 2 teams and the technical inspection team. The feedback from the inspectors has been a great help – I know that I can speak for the other teams in that it is going to help all of us make it through the competition tech inspection. It has also been nice to take a peek at other team’s vehicles – we are looking forward to seeing them on the road in Yuma.”

 

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About EcoCAR 2
EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future is a three-year student engineering competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM).  The competition’s mission is a vital one: offer an unparalleled hands-on, real-world experience to educate the next generation of automotive engineers. The competition challenges 15 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

About CAR
The Ohio State Center for Automotive Research (CAR) is the preeminent research center in sustainable and safe mobility in the United States and an interdisciplinary research center in the College of Engineering. CAR research focuses on: advanced electric propulsion and energy storage systems; advanced engines and alternative fuels for reduced fuel consumption and emissions; intelligent transportation and vehicular communication systems; autonomous vehicles; noise, vibrations, and dynamics; vehicle chassis systems; and vehicle and occupant safety.

 

Contact:

Sarah Jadwin, OSU EcoCAR 2 Communications & Outreach, jadwin.8@osu.edu