It's one thing to hear about the automotive advances being made on university campuses; it's quite another to drive them. Challenge X is an event sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and GM where schools get to flex their engineering and creative muscles. GM provides the vehicles -- in this case, each school received a Chevrolet Equinox -- and the schools' goal is to reengineer them with reduced emissions. The universities began computer simulations a year before the keys were handed over, then received the vehicle and spent the next two years doing the physical work, much of which involved integrating components and systems not specifically designed for these vehicles. An SUV may be an ideal platform for an event like this, because adding weight of new components isn't as critical (the suspension and structure are designed from the factory to carry added gear and people) and there are more places to add batteries and other equipment. For this Challenge X event, there were 17 universities involved, and all the vehicles were hybrids.
We started the day behind the wheel of the University of Waterloo's series fuel-cell hybrid. This school's entry is powered by hydrogen, stored in a tank that takes up the cargo area. The fuel cells are stored under the seats, and the battery pack is under the hood, as is a motor inverter. To reduce vehicle weight, this team replaced as many OE steel components as possible with aluminum and used carbon fiber wherever it was realistic.
As it operates, it makes some noises you wouldn't necessarily expect -- some hums and groans that are louder than in, say, a Prius -- but they're certainly minor. This Equinox does not have the same power output as a stock model, but has a 120-mile range and zero emissions -- its exhaust only drips warm water. Once a hydrogen infrastructure is in place, which some estimates put at 15-20 years from now, this could be a viable future power source for cars and SUVs.