Argonne's Larsen discusses hybrid vehicles, student competitions

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 12, 2005) — Argonne's Bob Larsen, director of the Center for Transportation Research, talks to WBEZ (on the WBEZ site, scroll down and click the Hybrid Vehicle Contest link) about the laboratory's advanced car program and university student contests. For 15 years, Argonne has been managing forward-thinking car competitions for North American students. The U.S. Department of Energy always sponsors the competitions with one of the big three car companies.

The current competition just entered its second year of three. Called Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility, 17 North American university teams are competing to re-engineer a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, a compact SUV that already provides competitive fuel economy, with three basic goals: reduce energy consumption, decrease emissions and maintain the performance and utility features of the stock vehicle. General Motors Corp. is DOE's co-sponsor for the 2004-2007 competition. First year results of Challenge X are available online.

These competitions allow students to use their creativity to show what can be accomplished outside of a major corporation. The auto industry is interested in the technological advances. And, the students in the competition will be working for the car companies designing these cars in the near future.

The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

For more information, please contact Catherine Foster (630/252-5580 or cfoster@anl.gov) at Argonne.