2008 Formula Hybrid Competition
This May, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 14 teams from around the world gathered to compete in the 2nd annual Formula Hybrid International Competition. Founded and run by Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, the competition features high-performance hybrid race cars built by teams of undergraduate and graduate engineering students. This year the event enjoyed three days of perfect spring weather and was a huge success.
McGill races to victory in the endurance event
Day one of the competition consisted of the technical inspections as well as the design and marketing presentation events. Dartmouth College placed first overall in Presentations and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University placed first overall in design. All teams were required to pass the mechanical and electrical technical inspections before proceeding to the dynamic events.
Day two featured the acceleration runs, the autocross competition, and the design finals. Dartmouth placed first in both the electric and unlimited 75-meter acceleration runs, with the fastest time of 4.9 seconds. McGill University placed first in the autocross event with a best time of 57.317 seconds on the 0.805-km (0.5-mi) course.
Day three consisted of the endurance event followed by the awards ceremony. Eight teams made it to the final endurance event. Two of them, McGill and Illinois Institute of Technology, completed the 22-km race (40 laps). Embry-Riddle and the University of Wisconsin completed 32 and 25 laps respectively. A 25% endurance finish rate is respectable for a second year competition, especially one involving extremely complex vehicles that incorporate hybrid, mechanical, and electrical drive systems. Please see results below and the 2008 Formula Hybrid Scores (Excel spreadsheet) for further information.
Illinois Institute of Technology gears up for Tech Inspections
Our lead sponsors were also in attendance. Chrysler, General Motors, and Toyota arrived with teams of expert engineers to help judge the events and recruit Formula Hybrid's high-caliber student engineers. GM took this opportunity to showcase their new Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Toyota displayed their plug-in Prius prototype which arrived straight from Japan! Plug In America provided volunteers and sponsored two California teams with $12,500 each to participate in the Formula Hybrid Competition. Plug In America is looking to sponsor two more California teams for 2009. Please contact Jay Friedland at jay@pluginamerica.com for further information.
Teams in Attendance, 2008
- Dartmouth College
- Drexel University
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Illinois Institute of Technology (car #6)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (car #12)
- MADI State Technical University (Moscow)
- McGill University (Canada)
- National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan)
- North Carolina State University
- University of California - Irvine
- University of Vermont
- University of Wisconsin - Madison
- Yale University
2008 Winners
- 1st place Overall Hybrid: McGill University
- 2nd place Overall Hybrid: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- 3rd place Overall Hybrid: Illinois Institute of Technology
Individual Events & Awards
- 1st place Design: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- 1st place Presentation: Dartmouth College
- 1st place Endurance: McGill University
- 1st place Autocross: McGill University
- 1st place Unlimited Acceleration: Dartmouth College
- 1st place Electric Only Acceleration: Dartmouth College
- Best Hybrid in Progress: University of Vermont
- Chrysler Award for Best Hybrid System Engineering: University of Vermont
- Thayer School of Engineering Dean's Award for Innovation: University of Vermont
2008 Event Information
- 2008 Photo Gallery
- 2008 Formula Hybrid Scores (Excel File)
- 2008 Entry List
- 2008 Program (PDF file)
- Schedule of events (PDF)
- 2008 Educational Program
- 2008 Competition Postcard (PDF)
- Formula Hybrid videos