Ethanol Vehicle Challenge participants line up for the performance competition in Ontario.

The University of Texas at Austin was the overall first place winner in the third annual Ethanol Vehicle Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, Natural Resources Canada, the Coalition, ethanol industry, and many others. The team also won the Innovative Component Award for developing a distillation system that offers commercial promise to the auto industry. The system uses higher volatility distilled fuel for starting and reduced enrichment, which resulted in reduced fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

The University of Illinois at Chicago was the first team to achieve the ultra-low emission vehicle standard, exceeding the ultra-low emission vehicle requirement for both trucks and cars. In addition, several teams achieved low emission vehicle standard.

The competition involves 16 North American colleges and university teams, who were challenged to re-engineer Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 pickup trucks to operate on E85. Teams were judged on emissions, performance, fuel economy, design strategy, and cold-start. "The technological advancements made from this competition show ethanol's potential to decrease foreign oil dependence, reduce the effects of global warming, and improve the agriculture economy," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said.

Overall Winners

• First Place University of Texas - Austin
• Second Place University of Waterloo - Ontario
• Third Place University of California - Riverside
• Fourth Place University of Texas - El Paso
• Fifth Place University of Illinois - Chicago
• Best Oral Presentation University of Texas - El Paso
• Best Vehicle Appearance Wayne State University - Michigan
• Best Ethanol Conversion University of Waterloo - Ontario
• Lowest Emissions University of Illinois - Chicago
• Best Acceleration Minnesota State University - Mankato
• Best Cold Start Performance University of Texas - Austin
• Most Innovative Component University of Texas - Austin
• Simon Vega Sportsmanship Minnesota State University - Mankato
• Best Fuel Economy University of Waterloo - Ontario and University of Illinois - Chicago

Two faculty advisors, Dr. William Weins and the late Dr. Alexander Peters of the University of Nebraska, received $11,000 faculty awards from the Governor's Ethanol Coalition for their outstanding contributions to the program and for inspiring their students.