ERAU of Daytona Beach Building a Green Car

Embry Riddle has opened a green garage, a lab where a team of students, who have entered the EcoCAR competition, will build an advanced Extended Range Electric Vehicle. The EcoEagles team consists of students from a variety of disciplines, including human factors and mechanical, electrical, aerospace and software engineering.

Embry-Riddle is one of 17 North American universities involved in the EcoCAR competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Resources Canada and General Motors. About 350 schools had applied for the slots.

Last year, Embry-Riddle's team finished fourth in the first year of the three-year competition. The first year focused on design. This year, the team is rebuilding the car to 65 percent of what it will eventually become, said Vincent Sabatini, a mechanical engineering graduate student who is team leader. The third year will be focused on refining the vehicle.

Embry-Riddle students have designed a hybrid, using both an electric powertrain and a small biodiesel engine to give the car a range of about 300 miles before refueling is required. They are adding features that will allow the vehicle to be adapted to different drivers and weather conditions.

University President John Johnson said of the university's efforts, traditionally in aeronautics, "Propulsion is propulsion. Technology is technology. There is a lot of technical transfer between airplanes and cars."

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