Plug In America Parcels out $60,000 to College Teams Building Hybrid Racecars
By John O'Dell April 10, 2009
Student teams line up with their cars at 2007 Formula Hybrid race.
EV and rechargeable hybrids advocate Plug In America says it has channeled $60,000 in funds from the California Air Resources Board into a quartet of $15,000 grants to student racing teams at four California colleges.
The grants are to be used to design, build and race plug-in, hybrid-electric Formula Hybrid (yes, there is such a beast) racecars.
Recipients are teams from Cal Polytechnic State University at Pomona and its sister, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, as well as the University of California, Irvine, and University of California, San Diego.
The race they are building for is the Formula Hybrid International competition, organized by Dartmouth College's engineering school and slated to be held May 4-6 at the new Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.
Except for UC Irvine, a repeat entrant, the California teams are new to the race, started in 2006 as an offshoot of the Formula SAE race series sponsored by the Society of Automotive engineers and designed to give college teams a venue for real-world testing of automotive technologies.
Formula Hybrid cars are open-wheel, single-seat racecars that must achieve at least 15 percent better fuel economy than standard Formula SAE cars.
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A Formula Hybrid car's ultracapacitor pack.
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Builders are encouraged to use recycled materials in the vehicles and designers and engineers to stress drivetrain innovation and fuel efficiency.
The race is sponsored by the SAE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a number of automakers, parts companies and advocacy groups, including Plug In America, with interests in hybrid-electric vehicles.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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Photos by Jay Friedland, courtesy of Plug In America
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Interesting. This sounds like it would have been a fun project to work on if I was still in college.
I may not agree with all the green agendas, but I like reading green car advisor. Judging by the lack of comments on the last dozen or so articles, not many other people do. You see lots of comments on straightline or the long term tests. Do you think people aren't that interested in green tech? Maybe people respond better to emotional topics of speed and beauty than fuel economy?
GreenPony, et al: Actually, we do okay readerwise, we just don't seem to be a blog that generates lots of comment (although we do invite, welcome and appreciate comments, criticisms, even the occasional attaboy). As for interest in green tech, we do know that people are interested -- wouldn't be doing this if we thought otherwise, but we also see levels of interest wax and wane with the economy.
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