Northridge : Car of Future Has Zip of Motorcycle

The car of the future that Cal State Northridge engineering students are helping design doesn’t look on the outside too much different from the car of the present.

The 1996 Chevrolet Lumina shell sits in a garage with all its internal parts taken out, while the students wait to install a motorcycle engine and other specially designed parts to make the car lighter, reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

“We’re aiming at 80 mpg,” said Shawn White, a graduate engineering student directing the project.

The student engineers make up one of 12 university teams nationwide competing in the Future Car Challenge, a contest sponsored by Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet and the U.S. Department of Energy, which aims to design a medium-size vehicle that retains its utility and affordability while increasing its efficiency.

In a preliminary inspection Tuesday before the June final competition in Detroit, officials from three auto companies and the energy department listened to students’ presentations on their progress.

Among modifications to the Lumina, White said the class will replace the car’s 3.3-liter engine with a 1.1-liter BMW motorcycle engine to reduce fuel consumption. The class also has designed a second, electric engine, to be placed in the trunk. The electric engine will operate the vehicle on city streets, while the gas engine will be used on the highway.

“We should have zero emissions on the streets,” White said.

Officials say the industry’s goal is to have a concept car developed by 2000 and in assembly production by 2007.

John McTague, Ford’s vice president of technical affairs, said some of the factors students have to consider in redesigning the car include passenger capacity, acceleration, cost of manufacturing, efficiency and marketability. “The students face the same challenges our engineers deal with,” he said.

Robert Mull, director of Ford’s New Generation of Vehicles Program, said the 12 universities were selected based on the quality of the schools’ engineering programs. “I’m very impressed with the support of the faculty and the facilities,” he said of Northridge’s project.