The Ultimate Engineering School Odyssey

In 1996 Dr.Amory Lovins,a well-known advocate of energy policy reform, lectured at San Diego State University on extremely fuel-efficient automobile design concepts he dubbed “hypercars.” These 150mpg vehicles were a big leap beyond the incrementalist’s revolution (oxymoron intended) in car design adopted by Detroit’s Big Three under the 1993 initiative known as the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). Indeed, PNGV goals were a mere 80 mpg.

That was almost eight years ago, and still no PNGV success. Kudos to Toyota and Honda for coming close with their introduction of a pair of gasoline-electric parallel hybrids called the Prius and the Insight, respectively. Hybrids of this type use a small electric motor and equally small battery pack to assist an undersized gasoline engine during acceleration.

Hybrids have become the new hope for more efficient transportation because pure electric propulsion—with its dependence on improved battery technology—has failed to evolve quickly enough. While the Prius and the Insight are true 60mpg vehicles, they’re not much fun to drive. Apparently, fuel-efficient cars that are also exciting to operate never even made it to the concept stage. What market exists for a 250-horsepower, 80-mpg car? What expectations would be set if it were to be built?

Against this backdrop, another set of forces was at work at SDSU. A long history of practice-based instruction had left students with a legacy of transportation and energy engineering. Scratch-built vehicles of all types populated the storage spaces and workshops of the Engineering Building. Two generations of solar-powered vehicles—built almost entirely without faculty involvement by a hardcore group made up of engineering students, non-engineering students, and non-students alike—had seen their day in competition.

Although the stirrings were already present, the tragic deaths of three SDSU engineering professors in 1996 galvanized a small team to create some meaning from their loss through a world-class engineering project. Drs. Preston Lowrey, Chen Liang, and Costas Lyrintzis are, we hope, honored by the more than three-year push to develop the high-performance hybrid vehicle we named the L3. While more than 30 students and faculty from four countries played a role, it was the passion and vision of just a handful of individuals that made this project a success. Jim Burns and Norm Lamar will be featured speakers at the 2001 Pro/USER International Conference, where the L3 will be on display.

Amory Lovins and Preston Lowrey advocated a “from the pavement up” approach to better car design. SDSU turned to PTC® software solutions to tame the complexities of the project and to implement the Lovins approach in a work environment where no relevant precedent existed. While we had introduced and proven PTC tools during the 1995-96 academic year, the L3 project would require us to tap their true power for the first time. Our mission: design, analyze, build and demonstrate a fast, fun, fuel-efficient vehicle from off-the-shelf technology while proving our engineering skills through best-in-class tools and techniques. Fig. 1. Early crude body model drove the decision process. Fig. 2. Primitives claimed space and informed design choice.