UOIT Travels to Yuma, Arizona for Year 2 Competition 

The team’s full function electric vehicle was shipped on May 7th, 2010 after passing three pre-competition inspections. UOIT joins the 15 other participating schools at the GM Yuma Desert Proving Grounds to put the vehicles through a series of demonstrations similar to what General Motors uses on their production cars.

This is the first opportunity the teams have had to show off their assembled designs to competition organizers and sponsors. Before the rigorous testing begins, however, all of the vehicles must pass an initial safety inspection. Once this is complete, each vehicle will be evaluated through a series of events designed to test breaking, acceleration, stability and consumer acceptability. The top 3 teams of Year 2 will be announced in a ceremony at the end of May, which will take place in San Diego, California.

The UOIT team has worked tirelessly since receiving their vehicle in October 2009. Designing an advanced propulsion system that meets current consumer standards was no easy task; physically assembling a proposed architecture into an existing vehicle frame was even more arduous. Members of the team are very happy with what they were able to accomplish in the past few months. They are excited to demonstrate what their vehicle can do, and are confident that hard work will not go unnoticed!

Check out the team’s twitter feed and Facebook page for frequent updates. Competition progress can also be tracked at greengarageblog.org. Keep yourself posted as to how things progress for UOIT EcoCAR!