FutureTruck

FutureTruck is a unique five-year engineering program that brings together the resources of industry, government, and academia in a cooperative effort to address important environmental and energy-related issues posed by the growing demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs). FutureTruck is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Ford Motor Company, and a variety of other sponsors and is managed by Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Transportation Research. The FutureTruck 2004 competition challenges teams of students from 15 top North American universities to continue reengineering a conventional, mid-size Ford Explorer into a lower-emissions vehicle with at least 25% higher fuel economy, without sacrificing the performance, utility, safety, and affordability consumers want. To meet these challenges, students employ cutting-edge automotive technologies, including advanced propulsion systems, lightweight materials, and alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, ethanol, and biodiesel. All of the teams in are implementing hybrid electric design strategies: an internal combustion engine with a battery and electric motor. Teams will go to go to Ford's Michigan Proving Ground in June 2004 to undergo a comprehensive safety evaluation followed by dynamic testing and static design events. The vehicles will be judged in more than a dozen events that evaluate their technical performance (acceleration, trailer towing, off-road handling, and on-road fuel economy) and static design (consumer acceptability, engineering design review, and oral technical presentation). To encourage teams to develop technologies that reduce total cycle greenhouse gas emissions, FutureTruck also includes an event that measures "upstream fuel-cycle emissions" (caused during the production and delivery of a fuel) and dynamometer emissions measurements. Ford's Allen Park Test Laboratory will evaluate the tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions of the FutureTruck vehicles.