Conferences and other events

[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]

DOE announces EcoCAR 2; focus on electric drive technology

April 15, 2011

EcoCar 2 Malibu. Click to enlarge.

At the SAE 2011 World Congress in Detroit, Michigan, US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, David Sandalow, announced the official launch of the EcoCAR 2: Plugging into the Future competition and the sixteen university teams selected to participate.

Established by the DOE and General Motors, EcoCAR 2 is a three-year competition that builds upon a 23-year history of DOE Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC). EcoCAR 2 follows the competition series EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge. EcoCAR 2 requires students to explore a variety of powertrain architectures focusing on electric drive vehicle technology. EcoCAR teams will utilize a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu donated by General Motors as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design.

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Lightweight Edison2 E85 Car Wins Mainstream Class X-Prize; Two Battery Electric Vehicles Take Alternative Class Prizes

September 16, 2010

The Edison2 Very Light Car on the track. Credit: Edison2. Click to enlarge.

The X PRIZE Foundation awarded $10 million to three teams who successfully completed the rigorous Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The winning teams—Edison2 of Lynchburg, Virginia; X-Tracer of Winterthur, Switzerland; and Li-ion Motors Corp. of Mooresville, North Carolina—emerged from an original field of 111 competing teams, representing 136 vehicle entries from around the world.

The $5 Million Mainstream Class Winner was the Edison2 Very Light Car, running on an E85 blend, and achieving 102.5 MPGe. Featuring the lowest drag coefficient (0.16) of any car with four wheels tested in the GM wind tunnel and at the Chrysler Proving Grounds, this vehicle demonstrated more than 100 MPGe on the test track, and verified in the lab, under stringent testing conditions using a highly innovative small displacement engine. Its low weight of 830 pounds (376 kg) resulted from its use of light weight materials, reduced engine displacement and a host of other weight-saving innovations.

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UK Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership Releases Awards Shortlist for Champion Awards

July 12, 2010

Later this week, the UK’s Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership will host the inaugural LowCVP Low Carbon Champion Awards, recognizing best recognize best practice in vehicle manufacturers, fuel suppliers, fleet operators and developers of products and services that reduce greenhouse gases from the road transport sector. The winners will be announced at the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) Annual Conference on 14 July.

A total of 22 companies and organizations have made the awards shortlist for seven different awards. The award categories and shortlisted groups are:

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