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EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future (EcoCAR) is North America's premier collegiate automotive engineering competition, challenging students with systems-level advanced powertrain design and integration. The three-year Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) series is organized by Argonne National Laboratory, headline sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM), and sponsored by more than 30 industry and government leaders. Fifteen university teams from across North America are challenged to reduce the environmental impact of a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu by redesigning the vehicle powertrain without compromising performance, safety, or consumer acceptability. During the three-year program, EcoCAR teams follow a real-world Vehicle Development Process (VDP) modeled after GM's own VDP. The EcoCAR 2 VDP serves as a roadmap for the engineering process of designing, building and refining advanced technology vehicles.

An automotive propulsion concept is presented which utilizes liquid nitrogen as the working fluid for an open Rankine cycle. Ambient heat exchangers are used to power an engine that is configured to maximize heat transfer during the expansion stroke. If sufficient heat input during the expansion process can be realized then this cryogenic propulsive system would provide greater automotive ranges and lower operating costs than those of electric vehicles currently being considered for mass production. The feasibility of meeting this engineering challenge has been evaluated and several means of achieving quasi-isothermal expansion are discussed.

The University of Washington EcoCAR2 team (UWEC2) is currently in the process of building a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) for the EcoCAR2 Challenge. This competition challenges 15 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu without compromising consumer acceptability. In order to be competitive in EcoCAR2, grid electricity is relied on heavily and the use of the Utility Factor method presented in SAE J2841 - Utility Factor Definitions must be used to compare emissions and consumption results with traditional vehicle results. Powertrain simulation in Autonomie was performed to explore many different hybrid architectures. The simulation results were normalized using the Utility Factor method to reach final architecture and component decisions.

A new, patented process for improving the fatigue lives of holes in metal structures has been developed. The process, known as StressWaveTM, produces residual compressive stresses and fatigue performance comparable to, or better than, those produced by legacy cold working methods and is designed primarily for automated manufacturing, fastening and assembly environments. Eliminating the need for close-tolerance starting holes, consumable sleeves, liquid lubricant cleanup and off-line processing increases speed of operation. These process benefits and associated cost savings satisfy many aspects of lean and continuous improvement program initiatives.