2009 21CAC
21st Century Automotive Competition

See full results for the competition here on the Penn State site or download the results.

The third annual 21st Century Automotive Challenge (Spirit of the Tour de Sol) electric, hybrid, and alt-fueled vehicles championship, took place at the main Penn State Campus in State College, PA., April 17-19, 2009, under the leadership and direction of Dr. Joel Anstrom, director of the Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Research Lab (HHVRL) at the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (LTI). Dr. Anstrom was aided by Theresa Maher, his chief engineering aide, selected members of the LTI staff, college students from Penn College of Technology, and the Penn State Schreyer Honors College.

1st place  866.2 pts, Team: Green Rabbit, Alan Arrison
EEVC member
VW Rabbit Pick Up Conversion

2nd place   735.5 pts, Team: Burlington County Electechs, Oliver Perry and Michael Manning,
EEVC member
86 Ford Escort Conversion “The Olympian”

Fuel Efficiency (4th) 102.3 mpgge
Seating (4th) 204.6 seat-miles/gge
Cargo (1st) 1,655.7 cargo-miles/gge  
PD 161.6 gge/year
Range (4th) 40.1 miles
Greenhouse Emissions (4th) 61.5 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross (3rd) 65.8 seconds

 
3rd  place  698.2 pts, Team: Methacton High School
Lorax three wheeled sports car  
Advisor: Steve Savitz

Fuel Efficiency (2nd) 119.3 mpgge
Seating (2nd) 238.5 seat-miles/gge
Cargo (4th) 428.2 cargo-miles/gge  
PD 161.6 gge/year
Range (2nd) 48.6 miles
Greenhouse Emissions (1st) 111.9 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross (4th) 77.6 seconds

 
4th place 603.7 pts, Team:  Ken Barbour  EEVC member
Geo Metro Convertible Conversion

Fuel Efficiency (3rd) 104.8 mpgge
Seating (3rd) 209.7 seat-miles/gge
Cargo (3rd) 760.1 cargo-miles/gge  
PD 161.6 gge/year
Range (3rd) 42.0 miles
Greenhouse Emissions (2nd) 108.5 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross (2nd) 62.8 seconds

1st place  985.0 pts, Team: North Haven Community School      
The team that traveled the farthest to attend
VW bus Conversion (transmission failure)
Advisor: John Dietter

Fuel Efficiency 70.5 mpgge
Seating (Best Overall) 493.5 seat-miles/gge
Cargo (Best Overall) 4,948.6 cargo-miles/gge
PD 500.0 gge/year
Range DNF
Greenhouse Emissions 204.2 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross 78.8 seconds

Plug Hybrid Independent Light Duty Local (3-5 seats)

1st Place  900.0 pts, Team: Partnerships 1, Inc., Dr. Paul Kydd   
EEVC member   
Ford 150 pickup  hybridized

Fuel Efficiency 28.1 mpgge
Seating 87.6 seat-miles/gge
Cargo 1,173.4  cargo-miles/gge  
PD 77.5 gge/year
Range DNF
Greenhouse Emissions 391.6 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross DNF

Bio Diesel Independent Light Duty Highway (3-5 seats)

1st place   900.0 pts, Team: Kreibick, Ed and Jim Kreibick
EEVC members   
1976 Mercedes Benz  bio-diesel

Fuel Efficiency (1st)57.4 mpgge
Seating (1st)286.8 seat-miles/gge
Cargo (1st) 806.0 cargo-miles/gge  
PD (1st) 210.3 gge/year
Greenhouse Emissions (2nd) 56.2 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross (1st) 65.2 seconds

2nd place  510.0 pts, Team: Freedom Car, Dr. Jerry Clever 
Mercedes Benz Modified  bio-diesel (vegetable  oil)

Fuel Efficiency (2nd)36.9 mpgge
Seating (2nd) 184.5 seat-miles/gge
Cargo (2nd) 295.9 cargo-miles/gge  
PD (2nd) 102.9 gge/year
Greenhouse Emissions (1st) 5.5 grams of CO2 per mile
Autocross (2nd) 66.3 seconds

Demonstration (Unlicensed) Vehicles

Thanks go out to Seth Krem and Mike Rompilla from Kuchera Engineering of Windber, PA, and Tim Cleary of Penn State, who brought their prototype vehicles for display and test drives on the track.

Brief Notes on Scoring and Strategies
for the Lifestyle Efficiency Competition
by:  Joel Anstrom

The Electric and PHEV vehicles demonstrated the highest fuel efficiency values per gallon of gasoline equivalent (gge) of energy received because the onboard energy conversion for batteries and electric motors is more efficient than for internal combustion engines. Fuel efficiency tends to decrease as vehicle passenger seating and cargo capacity increase since vehicle weight and frontal area increase with them.  Electric vehicles in the independent light-duty local division with seating of <=2 passengers demonstrated the highest fuel efficiencies between 100-125 mpgge with the two lowest mpgge cars affected by weak battery problems during the competition.  Carbon emission was lowest for the Freedom Energy Diesel running on mostly vegetable oil with a little biodiesel to start.  EVs and PHEVs were assessed considerable carbon emissions for charging at night when available grid electricity is generated with significant amounts of fossil fuel, mainly coal.  A winning strategy might be to charge with as much solar electricity as possible during the day and avoid charging at night or use of petroleum based fuels.  This can be accomplished by starting the day at a low state of charge – with the use of a kWhr meter – followed by traveling during the low solar production hours of the early morning and late afternoon and aggressive solar charging during the peak solar production hours around noon.  It may then be possible to discharge excess solar energy above initial state of charge back to the grid in the late afternoon to displace additional carbon emissions from fossil fuel generated electricity.

***Disks containing photos and the official scoring spreadsheet are being prepared for mailing to each 2009 competing team captain. The spreadsheet will show all scoring details and calculations and may be helpful in strategizing for the 2010 21st Century Automotive Challenge.***

Members

Ranging from experts to entrpeneurs, beginners with an interest to those with a mission, the members of EEVC have a goal of exchanging information about alternative energy sources. Some own and operate cars, boats, bicycles, tractors, motorcycles, with electric and alternative fuel drives. Others have job-related expertise in engineering and science and share their experiences during meetings or through the newsletter.

MEetings

If you have an interest in the potential of electric power or wouild like to share your experience with alternative energy, join us at our monthly meeting. Our meetings feature informal discussions and presentations, featuring members' latest projects and the latest EV news. Many club members are recognized experts in the field and are always ready to give advice to those who have questions. Anyone with interest is welcome to attend.

Meetings are held second Wednesday of the month
at 7 PM Room 49
Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
201 East Germantown Pike
Plymouth Meeting, Pa 19462

Park in the back of the high school. We usually post a big EEVC sign at the entrance. Enter and turn right. The room is the first on the left.

Events

Besides the regular meetings, club members participate in many other activities, like Earth Day, and various local ecology and energy activities.

Duryea Days is a major car show held each Labor Day weekend in Boyertown, Berks County. Here, club-members display their vehicles for thousands of people who come to admire a varied mix of unique and historic cars. Local televisions stations and newspapers turn to us as an authority on EV technology. The EEVC works closely with the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles which houses the largerst collection of electric vehicles in the United States.

See the results from the 2008 21st Century Automotive Challenge.