UW Truck wins top honors (35mpg SUV)

[Bushfire]

Glendale - The national champion Badgers were in town Wednesday to show off their prize productions: cutting-edge cars and trucks that helped the University of Wisconsin-Madison's engineering students win the Rose Bowl of engineering competitions.

The engineering students, participants in the FutureCar and FutureTruck initiatives sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and Ford Motor Co., compete against students from other schools to improve a car's fuel economy and lower its emissions while still retaining features, such as power and comfort, that customers want.

"Because let's face it, they can make a car that gets 100 miles per gallon but no one's going to buy it," said Nick Woulf, one of the UW students on the Wisconsin FutureTruck team.

snip

The students displayed a Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle that they rebuilt with an aluminum frame to make it lighter. The Explorer's V-6 gasoline engine was replaced with a 1.8-liter diesel engine coupled with an electric motor. The result: gas mileage of up to 35 mpg, up from 16, Woulf said. The truck won top honors at this year's FutureTruck competition - featuring vehicles rebuilt and enhanced by teams from more than a dozen universities around the country.

more...

http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/oct03/175818.asp

Why does it take university students to build a fuel efficient SUV instead of the major US auto builders? That's right, we wouldn't have to start wars in oil producing countries if Detroit could figure it out.

[Stupdworld]

1. any word on the cost impact

how do the modifications impact the overhead? is it more expensive, possibly less?

[freethought]

2. Diesels Have always been more efficient

Nothing really new here. Diesels have always been more efficient
than gasoline. Thant's why commercial haulers and other companies favor diesel vehicles. They are also more reliable.

Europe os already moving onto a new type of 'clean burning' diesel. Diesels lack some of the "snap' that a gasoline powered car has, but so what. Combine hybrid motor conecepts with biodiesel or biodiesel/diesel mixtures and who knows what kind of benefits could be made.

Why dosen't Detroit figure it out? Easy. Hybdrid vehicles are TRUE innovation. A new concept in how a car or truck propels itself. Things like fuel injection, ABS, 4WD on the fly, (I'll leave out air bags) these thinbg haven't really changed how a car runs or where it storres the energy it needs. They are just new ways doing old things.
Big American businesses dosen't like real innovation. It's expensive to implement. Lord knows we can't spend money to innovate can we?

Pricks! I hope the Japanese show the U.S. automakers up again.

[cprise]

3. Electric hybrids were popular in the early 20th century

...as diesel-electric locomotives. B-)

I belong to a car club for late-model VW diesels, the TDI.
http://www.tdiclub.com

The very latest designs available in Europe are said to be the choice for performance cars these days, and reach thermal efficiencies of 52% !

The TDI is great to drive, but I bought it because of a burning hatred of oil companies. I can run it biodiesel for $2.40/gal and cut Exxon and the rest right out of my transportation budget! It doesn't even cost more than gas (because of much better milage) and it's very clean with vanishingly small CO2 emissions (much lower than a gas hybrid).

I can't think of another car available in the US that can be run on 100% renewable energy.

Most of us are impatiently waiting for a hybrid diesel though. And from what I hear the Japanese may even beat the Europeans to market with this technology.


PS- Solectria is currently making diesel-electric trucks and buses.
http://www.solectria.com/products/vehicles.html