EcoCAR EV teams put to the test at GM Proving Grounds
Adrik Vargas
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – College students from across the country are in Yuma this week for a national engineering competition.
The EcoCAR EV Challenge brought together 13 collegiate teams working on engineering the 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ, implementing CAV technologies and innovative features.
The teams gathered at the General Motors Desert Proving Ground in Yuma for vehicle technical inspections.
“Right now is probably one of the times of most rapid change in the industry since we transitioned from horse and buggy to motors and wheels,” said Jesse Alley, EcoCAR Sr. Program Director.
After the testing in Yuma, the competition moves to San Diego where teams will compete for over $100K in prize money and the Year 3 winner will be crowned.
Students from UC Davis were hard at work preparing for the big day and shared what they were working on.
“We’re writing code, and we have a team of three to four different people, making sure that each line in the code works so that we can get our car running and ready to go for the next events,” said Anthony Aguilar, an engineering student from UC Davis.
Anthony said he’s proud of his team as they continue to put their all into perfecting their vehicle.
The competition’s sponsors like General Motors looks for the competitions top talent to recruit.
“This truly is a consortium of government, industry, and academia, we’re all in it together because we believe in the value of the program and we believe in investing into the next generation of engineers,” said Alley.