{"id":45406,"date":"2020-04-02T15:25:02","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T19:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=45406"},"modified":"2020-04-03T15:12:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T19:12:25","slug":"emu-teams-fuel-efficient-vehicle-will-be-ready-for-rescheduled-shell-eco-marathon-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/emu-teams-fuel-efficient-vehicle-will-be-ready-for-rescheduled-shell-eco-marathon-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU team’s fuel-efficient vehicle will be ready for next year’s rescheduled Shell Eco-marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Tucked away in a garage on Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s campus sits a metal frame made of chrome moly tubing, an extruded steel alloy. Various tools, plywood, and parts of a gas-powered motor lie around. The frame is narrow, and low to the ground, like the chassis of a drag race car. And it will be a race car \u2013 but if it\u2019s to win the Shell Eco-marathon, it will have to be by fuel efficiency, not speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanical engineering major Ben Bontrager-Singer<\/strong> is leading a team of nine other students to build the car for the Eco-marathon at the Sonoma Raceway in California. They had planned to compete this April, but the eco-marathon this year was cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Bontrager-Singer said they will continue to work on the vehicle in preparation for the 2021 marathon, which they had already planned on competing in after this year\u2019s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe will have to work a little harder to do research and find ways that we can improve without the experience of the competition,\u201d he said. \u201cWe made a tremendous amount of progress this year and we will just continue that progress \u2026 we will have more time to do some testing and improve the car now that it is much further along, considering that we only had a few pieces of metal and some tools at the beginning of January.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To compete, the car will have to pass rigorous safety and quality inspections and drive at least 15 miles per hour. To win, it has to complete the course using the least amount of gasoline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe want every ounce of fuel that goes into the combustion chamber to be used,\u201d says Bontrager-Singer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students are converting a small, 50cc moped motor to electronic fuel injection for the car. Bontrager-Singer expects they\u2019ll be able to reach a top speed of about 30 miles per hour, but will drive slower to maximize their fuel efficiency beyond 100 miles per gallon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s their strategy to win against dozens of teams from across the country, many of whom spend thousands of dollars on the highest-tech, lightest-weight materials? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could beat them if our car runs and theirs doesn\u2019t,\u201d Bontrager-Singer says with a chuckle. Many of the vehicles fail inspections once they arrive, or malfunction in transit to the raceway and don\u2019t start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, the team has raised more than $9,135 of their $9,500 goal through EMU\u2019s crowdfunding platform<\/a> to purchase materials and tools. The team has put long hours into the project, working between classes, evenings, and sometimes in all-day sessions on Saturdays. Earlier this semester, they spent 11 hours at Excel Steel\u2019s nearby metal shop welding the chassis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddy Wilkins<\/strong>, the group\u2019s faculty advisor, said the students are learning welding, mechanical design, aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, and design through the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hope is this will be ongoing\u201d from year to year, Wilkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cReally generous people have been very supportive of this project,\u201d Bontrager-Singer said. EMU\u2019s Student Government Association helped get the project off the ground, and local businesses and individual donors have lent their support, too. The group also took a trip to James Madison University (JMU), which has fielded an Eco-marathon team for a few years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been very open about answering questions and talking about what they\u2019re doing,\u201d said Bontrager-Singer. The EMU team had planned to ship their car to California on a truck along with JMU\u2019s entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to this project, the extent of Bontrager-Singer\u2019s automotive experience was changing out an alternator and other minor car repairs with his father. His teammates have a variety of expertise, he said, but all have a general handiness about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am grateful for the work and learning that my teammates have put in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The members of the EMU Eco-marathon team are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n