Dozens of well-wishers gathered outside Engineering II Monday morning to congratulate students from UC Davis who this month won overall first place in the national FutureTruck competition.

The team will also be honored July 12 at the state capitol, when they will be presented with a congratulatory resolution on the Senate floor.

For the FutureTruck 2001 competition, teams had to modify a Chevrolet Suburban to increase fuel efficiency and lower tailpipe emissions, while preserving the performance consumers seek in big sports utility vehicles. UC Davis was the only California school represented.

"We're very happy that we did that well," said engineering professor Andy Frank, who supervised the team.

The UC Davis vehicle uses a gas-electric hybrid engine. It can recharge its batteries by plugging into the domestic power supply, and can drive up to 60 miles on electric power alone. Since most daily journeys are relatively short, the vehicle would run on electric power 90 percent of the time, Frank said.

As the batteries run down, the gas engine cuts in to supply extra power. The vehicle averages 25 to 30 miles per gallon.

"We've improved the fuel efficiency of that truck by 60 per cent or more," he said. The competition showed that it is possible to build large vehicles that meet ultra-low emissions standards, he added.

This year's UC Davis FutureTruck entry was a total rebuild of last year's, which placed fourth overall. As well as the new power supply, the Suburban has more electronics, with nine computers on board to collect data and monitor performance.

FutureTruck awards were presented at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., June 13 after a week of competition at the General Motors proving grounds in Milford, Mich. This is the fourth time in 10 years of competition that UC Davis has carried off first place.

General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy are major sponsors of the competition.