EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future, is a three-year collegiate engineering competition and the only program of its kind. The competition’s mission is a vital one: offer an unparalleled hands-on, real-world experience to educate the next generation of automotive engineers. The competition challenges 16 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

As it is, the teams will get a running start by being provided $25,000 each in part to develop computer-modeling programs to better create vehicle design while providing performance simulation. As with EcoCAR 1, organizers will present teams with their vehicles after one year and hold weeklong competitions at the end of Year 2 and Year 3, in which the vehicles will be graded on criteria such as well-to-wheel emissions, performance, safety and utility.

Source: EcoCar 2