| What: | Engineering students return to campus with their prize-winning entry in the national FutureTruck competition, a gas-electric hybrid Chevy Suburban that gets up to 30 miles to the gallon. |
| When: | Monday, June 25 10 a.m. |
| Where: | Outside the Engineering II building on University of California, Davis campus. |
| Visuals | The prize-winning vehicle will be available for filming both parked and driving. Members of the student team will be available for interviews, as well as faculty supervisor Andy Frank and project engineer Mark Duvall. |
| Background: | FutureTruck challenges college student teams to modify a standard large sports utility vehicle to increase fuel efficiency and decrease pollution. At the same time, they have to maintain performance characteristics such as acceleration, towing and off-road driving -- the features consumers expect in a big SUV. The UC Davis vehicle is a standard Chevy Suburban with a gas-electric hybrid engine. It can drive for up to 60 miles on battery power alone. The batteries are recharged overnight by plugging it into a domestic power supply. As the batteries run down, the gas engine takes over to keep them charged. The vehicle averages 25 to 30 miles per gallon of gas, about 60 percent better than a standard Suburban. It can travel up to 420 miles on its 12-gallon tank. The competition was held from June 4-11 at the General Motors proving grounds in Michigan. The results were announced June 13 in Washington, D.C. Fifteen teams from around the country took part. UC Davis was the only entry from California. Major sponsors of this year's competition were General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. |
| Directions and Parking: |
From I-80, take the UC Davis exit. Turn left onto La Rue Road and right on Bioletti Way, then right on Bainer Hall Drive in front of Engineering II. The event will take place at the rear of the building. Media can park free in any nonreserved parking space. If your vehicle is not marked, place a media business card on the dashboard. |
More information: http://www.futuretruck.org/; http://www.team-fate.net/
Media Resources
Andy Fell, Research news (emphasis: biological and physical sciences, and engineering), 530-752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu
Andy Frank, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, (530) 752-8120, aafrank@ucdavis.edu