CSUN Students Design Car for the Future

Imagine driving north from the Valley for a vacation on the Mendocino coast and not once having to refill the gas tank.

It’s possible, say mechanical engineering students at Cal State Northridge who have spent two years working on a futuristic car that would be fuel-efficient as well as attractive and affordable to the average consumer.

The 12 CSUN students along with Tim Fox, mechanical engineering professor, recently tested their car at the 1997 FutureCar Challenge in Detroit. Out of 12 schools, CSUN came in 11th, due, they say, to a last-minute glitch in an electronic component.

Despite the malfunction, CSUN students are proud of their accomplishment. They said all along they knew it would work.

“In any class you have your doubting Thomases when it comes to technology . . . but a major portion of them like myself were planning on having it run,” said Eric Nerdrum, 36. And when the car did work?

“There were high-fives all over the place,” Arbi Karapetian, 24, said.

The competition, sponsored by the Goals and Partnership of a New Generation of Vehicles, a 1994 initiative from President Clinton, teams the three top U.S. auto makers with the U.S. Department of Energy.

In 1995, each of the 12 teams were given $10,000 and a five-passenger, red four-door sedan, either Ford, Chrysler or General Motors model. The schools raised money to redesign the car.

CSUN, which spent $110,000 plus staff time, according to Fox, took its Chevrolet Lumina and over a span of 20 months transformed the car. It was painted green, a color to symbolize the environment. The engine was replaced with a 25-battery-powered electric motor and separate fuel-powered engine.

When the car travels at a speed less than 20 mph it is powered by electricity. When it goes over that speed, it switches to the engine system.

Fox estimated that the vehicle could travel 600 miles before it would have to be refueled.

Many of the teams built hybrid-design cars--those with both electric motors and fuel-powered systems, said Bob Larsen, director of the 1997 FutureCar Challenge.

“We’re trying to let the public know that future cars are going to be different,” Larsen said. “They’ll have higher efficiency and lower emissions but still be fun and exciting.”