The competition offers an unparalleled educational experience for hundreds of engineering students, many of whom become leaders in the automotive industry. The competition offers experience that they cannot get from textbooks or classrooms. The Fuel Ethanol is an environmentally beneficial, renewable fuel. For example, E10 reduces some greenhouse gas emissions and requires no modifications to vehicles. E85, however, requires only minor, low-cost modifications to existing vehicles, yet can provide substantially greater emissions reductions of greenhouse gases emissions.
Ethanol produces less harmful emissions, improving air quality.
Ethanol is produced in the United States and Canada primarily from agricultural sources, helping to boost our domestic economy and provide energy independence and security. Ethanol is a domestic fuel made from renewable materials, like corn and other grains, and reusable materials such as wastes from the forestry, brewery and food processing industries. Using local resources, helps support our rural economy, providing agriculture and energy security. Without sacrificing the cost and convenience that customers expect, E-85 vehicles produce similar fuel economy and performance to their gasoline counterparts, but produce far fewer greenhouse gas emissions. During the 1999 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge 12 of the 13 competing teams accelerated faster than the stock vehicle in a mile and outperformed the vehicles on an mpge basis.