Alison BayzatProject Manager

WHAT IS ECOCAR 3?EcoCAR 3 is the latest installment in the Advanced Vehicle

Technology Competition (AVTC) series sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors and managed by Argonne National Laboratory. The competition focuses on providing hands-on, career oriented experience to university students working alongside industry partners. Students work in interdisciplinary teams to solve real-world problems and help meet future automotive market needs.

Launched in the fall of 2014, sixteen North American universities were tasked with re-engineering a sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro, Motor Trend’s 2016 Car of the Year, into a hybrid vehicle. The overarching goal is to maintain the performance expected from the Camaro while minimizing its environmental impact through the implementation of high performance hybrid technologies.

The McMaster Engineering EcoCAR 3 Team hopes to build upon McMaster University’s reputation as an outstanding technical school and an academic leader in the development of sustainable advanced vehicle technology. By working closely with the McMaster Institute for Automotive Research and Technology (MacAUTO) and the McMaster-based Canada Excellence Research Chair in Hybrid Powertrain Program, the team is looking to establish McMaster University as a major competitor in both EcoCAR 3 and future AVTCs.

THE MCMASTER E/28 CAMARO

John ReimersEngineering Manager

McMaster University has a strong history in past automotive development competitions and the team hopes to continue the trend of creating high performance hybrid vehicles. With that goal in mind the team set their sights on the Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro, a track performance vehicle, as the car to beat. Thus the E/28 Camaro was born, a hybrid vehicle boasting 600 HP and 750 ft-lbs of torque while increasing the vehicle’s fuel economy to 42 miles per gallon (5.6 L/100km). The team hopes to break the stereotype of hybrid vehicles being low range, low performance and prove that electrified powertrains can be track-ready, sports cars while still being environmentally conscious and consumer friendly.

The E/28 will be more than just a fast car; it will also contain advanced driver assistance systems and a level of safety expected from a production vehicle. The innovation opportunities are endless with such a unique project and the team has chosen to push the boundaries even further by incorporating a Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS). The HESS is a combination of both batteries and ultracapacitors. This system combines the power density of ultracapacitors with the charge-sustaining characteristics of a conventional battery pack. The team is going above and beyond the state-of-the-art baseline system and developing creative solutions to the complex technical challenge that is EcoCAR 3.

SPECIFICATIONSPowertrain Series-Parallel Plug-In Hybrid

ElectricEngine 2.0L LTGInduction Twin-Scroll TurbochargerHybrid Motors YASA-P400Motor Inverters RMS PM150DZRTransmission GM 8L90 Eight-Speed AutomaticClutch Tilton Multi-DiscDifferential Viscous Limited SlipFuel E85Fuel Capacity 40 LEnergy Storage Hybrid;

Li-ion Battery & Li-ion UltracapacitorElectrical Capacity 11.4 kWhBattery LG ChemUltracapacitor JM EnergySteering Electrically AssistedSuspension Multi-Link Macpherson Front

Multi-Link RearWheelbase 2811 mmTrack Width 1617 mmLength 4782 mmCurb Weight 1980 kgPassenger Capacity 4Cargo Capacity 110 L

The team is actively engaged with student groups both on and off the McMaster University campus, and students range in age from elementary school to their fellow classmates at McMaster. They work with multiple summer camps on campus—both Venture students from grades 1-8 and L.E.A.P. for high school students—to promote automotive technologies with an emphasis on their environmental impact. The team also hosts many high school students from local schools in their facility at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre, where they are taught about the importance of creating sustainable technologies and pushing the boundaries of industry. Finally, the team hosts a bi-weekly lecture series on campus called Students Teaching Students to teach various topics ranging from vehicle architectures to research techniques.

The team emphasizes the importance of collaboration and creativity in everything they do, and are always sure to identify the environmental impacts of any project. The team also works with McMaster Women in Engineering to help mentor young women and promote the opportunities available to them through AVTC. The team collaborates with EcoCAR 3 organizers to inspire young girls to pursue careers in automotive and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.

The team is passionate about increasing the S.T.E.M. awareness throughout the Hamilton community. They have worked closely with a local dealership to create discussion around environ-mentally friendly technologies and shifting away from the idea that eco-friendly has to be boring or expensive. The campaign’s success has been noticed by various influential people across Canada, including Member of Parliament Omar Alghabra and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. The team’s goal is to leverage these influencers to extend the reach of the campaign. The team’s outreach has expanded community awareness for sustainability and engineering.

RECOGNIZING INNOVATION Over the past two years, the McMaster Engineering EcoCAR 3 Team has been proudly mak-

ing waves in the EcoCAR 3 competition, completing tasks and deliverables both creatively and in a timely fashion. Although this is the first AVTC the team has participated in, the experience gathered in other vehicle competitions has allowed the team to grow and excel at a tremendous rate. The team is excited to enter Year 3 of the competition and will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and learning to the fullest extent.

YEAR ONE• MathWorks Modeling Award - 1st Place• Mechanical Systems Presentation - 1st Place• Innovation Presentation - 2nd Place• System Modeling and Simulation Presentation and Demonstration - 3rd Place• dSPACE Embedded Success Award - 3rd Place• Overall - 6th Place This is the highest Year One placement of any rookie team in the history of

AVTC

YEAR TWO• MathWorks Modeling Award - 1st Place• AVL DRIVE Award - 1st Place• General Motors Women in Engineering Rookie Award - Megan Wood• NSF Innovation Award - 2nd Place• dSPACE Embedded Success Award - 2nd Place• Best Winter Workshop Systems Safety Presentation