OSU EcoCAR | Plug In. Drive On!

Billboard Designs

Tell us what you think of our billboard designs! Vote for your favorite: [poll id="3"]

EcoCAR Team: “O-H!”

We got together over the weekend to take a group picture! Well, a few group pictures. But we think this one best reflects our OSU spirit. Can we get an "I-O?"

Understanding Design

One of the subteam leaders of the OSU team, Tony Morgan, maintains a blog on general design concepts and their application to our EcoCAR vehicle. One major focus of Tony's work involves the center console of our vehicle which has undergone some major design changes due to two battery modules being located beneath the gear shift lever. Due to this design, we are open to many possibilities to replace the original center console look and feel. Follow Tony's blog at http://understandingdesign200.blogspot.com/!

Charging Stations for Future EcoCARs

The OSU Center for Automotive Research has vehicle charging stations designed by Plug Smart and GE which use the SAE J1772 standard charging plug for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. The OSU EcoCAR was built with these standards in mind and can demonstrate charging in front of the research center.

OSU EcoCAR Vehicle Gets a Facelift!

On Saturday, our engineering team worked on prepping the vehicle for its new paint job. First, we removed decals, badging, trim, and lights on the sides and front of the vehicle. Then, we used sanding blocks covered in wet sandpaper to remove the clear coat layer off the car. Team members quickly learned that sanding the vehicle was a lot of work! We wanted to make sure we evenly removed only the top layer without reaching down to the sheet metal, and we also needed to get into all the smaller and complex areas near the fog lights, lower trim ...

EcoCAR Invades The Fisher College of Business

Engineering students at The Ohio State University are not the only ones receiving real life experience through the EcoCAR Challenge. With the evolution of alternative fuel vehicles on the rise, marketers face the challenge of gaining consumer acceptability for these vehicles. Marketing professors at the Fisher College of Business are passing this challenge on to marketing students through the EcoCAR Challenge. Dr. Curtis Haugtvedt, Marketing professor and expert in Consumer Psychology, is currently using competition outreach objectives in his Green Marketing class. Students are to design a Marketing plan focusing on the OSU EcoCAR. Dr. Patricia West also a Marketing professor ...

OSU EcoCar = Eco-Friendly

Ask an Engineer Blog, Question #2... "What makes the EcoCAR so special and eco-friendly?" –Question from Steven, a freshman at Ohio State. Well Steven, the EcoCAR or the 2010 OSU Buckeye Charge has a lot of different aspects about it that make it a more “environmental friendly” vehicle! The car itself is designed as an extended-range electric vehicle, meaning that it uses both batteries and an engine to actually move the vehicle. The vehicle is designed to use all of the battery power first and the all-electric range is around 40-50 miles. After the battery packs have been drained, the vehicle automatically ...

OSU Tunes Emissions Controls at EPA NVFEL

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="375" caption="OSU EcoCAR vehicle on 4-wheel dynamometer"][/caption] This week the Ohio State team is performing emissions and efficiency testing at the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, MI. The team has performed some very helpful testing to improve engine and emissions controls with detailed emissions data and technical expertise available from the EPA. During 8 hours of allocated testing time, the team ran several UDDS and HWFET drive cycles to compare control strategy changes in repeatable circumstances. See more about the EPA's standard drive cycles here. The team has lots of work to do, but ...

Designing a New EcoCAR (0)

9/28/11 •

The EcoCAR team is back for a new year of competition designing a hybrid vehicle based on the 2013 Malibu! If you’re interested in working with the team, contact us at osuecocar@gmail.com or contact our team leader, Katherine Bovee (bovee.1@osu.edu). Team meetings are at the Center for Automotive Research (930 Kinnear Road) on Tuesdays [...]

Recent Posts

Day 6 Updates from Final Competition (1)

6/11/11 •

In Day 6 of the EcoCAR finals, the team continued a string of good performances. The team split up sending a few people to the proving grounds to get the vehicle charged up for a run at the trailer tow event. The remaining team members continued practicing for the two presentations that would occur later [...]

Day 5 Update from Final Competition (0)

6/10/11 •

In Day 5 of the EcoCAR competition, the team checked off the next to last event, which was an autocross course. A GM driver took each team’s vehicle through the course three times with the best time used for scoring. OSU held the lead during the first round, however, Waterloo and Mississippi State pulled off [...]

Day 4 Update from Final Competition (0)

6/10/11 •

Day 4 of the EcoCAR Competition Finals started for the team at 6:00 am at GM’s Milford Proving grounds. The team was scheduled to run the third and final leg of the 160 mile Emissions and Fuel Economy (E&EC) of the competition, which is the most critical event. Ohio State’s vehicle completed 38 miles out [...]

OSU EcoCAR Goes Hollywood! (0)

5/19/11 •

The OSU EcoCAR team was recently approached by Florentine Films, a film company out of New York City. Producers from the film company said that the OSU EcoCAR team was recommended by GM’s Communications department to discuss our Chevrolet experience in a documentary entitled “100 Years of Chevrolet, An American Road Trip”. “The 100 year [...]