MSU’s EcoCAR 2 Team Returns from Competition

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — From gas mileage to speed, engineering students at Mississippi State University have spent the last week learning from experts on how to improve their EcoCar for their next competition.

The boys are back in town.

Engineering students with the EcoCAR 2 team return after a week in East Liberty, Ohio where the put their years of hard work to inspection.

“We did some advance testing on the vehicle. Things like emissions testing, drivability so going over speed bumps and things like that to see how the car reacted,” says Hagan Walker.

EcoCar 2 is part of the CAVS program at Mississippi State, where engineering students design and transform a regular GM model vehicle into an Eco-friendly product.

Hagan Walker and some of his classmates took advantage of the latest competition to learn from the best.

“There were many GM technicians there that are able to hook up like specialized tools to our car and tell us you know if things aren’t working exactly how they should be. So we got a lot of engine tuning and electric motor tuning and other things in that we couldn’t do here,” says Walker.

Now, that the students are back, they’re not wasting any time preparing for their final competition in June.

“Most of that is tweaking like the control stragedy. How the car actually functions on the road. So we have things to improve like shifting and emissions,” says Walker.

After spending long hours transforming the Chevy Malibu, Walker is excited to see the final stretch of the competition.

“I’m elated. I’m so glad that it’s finally coming to an end and we’re actually seeing benefits of all the hard work that we put in this. So I’m just ready for competition to see what those other 14 teams bring to the table and hopefully pull off a win for Mississippi State,” says Walker.

The EcoCar 2 team says by the final competition in June, the car should be able to get 100 miles to a gallon.

 

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