RHEV cruises to second place at Shell Eco-Marathon Americas

What zips around a track at more than twenty miles an hour but can go more than a thousand miles on a single gallon of gasoline? A vehicle none other than Rose’s own RHEV 74, Rose-Hulman Efficient Vehicles Team’s second-place finisher in this year’s Shell Eco-Marathon Americas, held April 12 through April 14 at the California Speedway in Fontana, California.

The recent competition marked the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work and the start of a new competition season for the RHEV team. “We spent the entire year designing, building, and testing our vehicle,” said RHEV President and senior mechanical engineer Elliot Goodman.

And, as Goodman revealed, all that hard work paid off at the competition, “Our highest fuel mileage for the day was 1637.2 mpg. We also achieved runs of 1604 and 1600 mpg.” Those efficiencies were so extraordinary, RHEV broke its previous record of 1234 mpg (set in 2004) and secured second place at this year’s marathon behind California Polytechnic State University, which finished with 1902.7 mpg.

While in California, the RHEV Team was focused on the Eco-Marathon: “On Thursday, we helped the officials make sure that the track was safe to drive on and that no turn was too bumpy or too tight. Friday was spent passing tech inspection and completing four practice runs to give our drivers a feel for the course,” said Michael Haughney, senior mechanical engineer and Secretary of RHEV.

Photo: Michael Haughney / RHEV Katie Snider, one of the drivers of RHEV 74, kisses the team’s trophy after winning second place at this year’s Shell Eco-Marathon.

Saturday, the day of the competition, the weather cooperated for a few great runs. “The temperature stayed near 75 degrees...with a few scattered clouds in the sky,” said Goodman. “A front moving into the area caused winds to pick up as the day went on. Our mileage was affected slightly by the wind, but the dry air and high temperatures helped greatly.”

“During the competition, the car performed well,” said Katie Snider, a junior mechanical engineer and one of the two drivers of RHEV 74. “It’s not the most comfortable and it gets pretty hot, but it’s fun to drive,” said Snider. “I was very nervous initially, but we got time to practice on the track which made me feel better.”

“We are pretty much laying on our backs about an inch from the ground going up to about 22 mph,” said Danielle Steinke, a junior civil engineer and the other driver of the car. “We have done a lot of work over the past few years and it feels great to finally have our hard work pay off.”

Richard Stamper, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and outgoing advisor to RHEV, said of the competition: “It’s as if a basketball team would train all year and then get only one inbounds possession to determine how their season goes. Last year the team worked very hard and had a car with great potential-but to continue the basketball analogy-we didn’t get a shot off. So our strong performance this year was particularly sweet.”

“The second place finish was a great accomplishment, the team worked very well together and we are all very pleased with the result,” said Haughney, who goes on to say “we were also happy with how consistent our car was.” Not a group to rest on their laurels, Haughney emphasized that “this definitely makes us want to work harder at the SAE competition and obtain a first place finish.”

All that hard work included a lot of application of the engineering principles and techniques learned through the coursework at Rose. As Goodman explains, “The three main areas of research and testing are engine efficiency, aerodynamic drag, and rolling resistance.” Facets of this research include literature research as well as design, fabrication, construction, materials selection, and wind tunnel and track testing. Goodman points out that volunteers contribute all of that hard work, no academic credit is earned by members of RHEV.

The RHEV team made sure they had some fun on the trip as well: “Traveling together is a nice way for the students and faculty to interact outside of the classroom. For example, a flight delay in Chicago caused a portion of us to spend the night on cots in O’Hare along with several hundred other stranded travelers. In that sort of situation you learn things about each other that you don’t in a classroom,” said Stamper.

“I am proud of the team and looking forward to being part of it,” said incoming advisor and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Allen White. “Their hard work before the competition paid off in the results, but the way that they achieved their success was most impressive to me. The RHEV team had a great time and worked well together but also helped other teams - even going so far as to re-build an engine and tune the carburetor for the U.C. Berkeley team!”

The team will compete later this summer in the SAE Supermileage Competition, June 7 - 8, at the Eaton Proving Grounds in Marshall, Michigan and hopes to be able to compete in the Shell Eco-Marathon U.K. in Rockingham, England on July 4 - 5.