Students at Georgia Tech took on the task with relish. Live Webcast View Yahoo's coverage of FutureTruck 2000 here . She also notes the difficulty of the task. From the contest, the sponsors want a manufacturable vehicle. Contest rules also require that the Suburban maintains cabin integrity, towing ability, customer satisfaction and four-wheel drive capability.
Hybrid vehicles incorporate an electric motor with a standard internal combustion engine.
The Georgia Tech team decided to keep the stock engine because a change would require complex computer interfacing with the drive train. To integrate the electric motor, the students used a pulley and chain to gear into the drive shaft. University teams were selected for the FutureTruck 2000 competition on the basis of formal design proposals. After an initial charge, the batteries run the motor when the engine would normally pollute them most, a function determined by a computer algorithm. For instance, the electric motor kicks in whenever the driver wishes to accelerate.