BYU's fleet of electric vehicles grew from three to four Thursday Sept. 19, as members of BYU's Department of Technology accepted an EV1 electric car from General Motors representatives.

The sleek silver EV1 is one of only 1,000 such vehicles worldwide, said Craig Schneider, director of the EV1 Road Show. The road show sponsored by GM tours the country promoting the EV1 and its environmentally responsible automotive technologies.

"I'll give you a base Idea of what the vehicle is worth," said Schneider. "So far we've produced 1,000 units and spent $1 billion in the first year."

The EV1 has been distributed in the southwest since 1996, but no private individuals own one. It has only been offered as a lease vehicle, so putting an exact dollar value is impossible, Schneider said.

The valuable vehicle gives the department of technology more then just an expensive new toy.

"The EV1 is one of the most advanced electric vehicles ever designed," said Thomas Erekson, director of the School of Technology. "We now have it on campus for our students to study its technology. We will be testing new technologies in this car."

Erekson said he sees the electric car projects as an important student mentored learning experience.

"When President Bateman says he wants to see students involved in student mentored learning, research with faculty and publishing papers, we've done it and now were continuing to do it," said Erekson.

Everyone in attendance at the ceremony was invited to take a spin around the Lavell Edwards Stadium parking lot in Electric Blue, the school of technology's Formula Lightning series electric racecar. But the car is more then just a promotional tool - it's a student mentored learning opportunity.

Nathan Wendt, 24, from North Hills, Calif., majoring in manufacturing engineering and technology said he's been working on Electric Blue's clutchless transmission all summer long. Wendt is just one of many students that have benefited from student mentored learning opportunities.

BYU graduate and automotive design director at GM, Clay Dean, presented the EV1 to Erekson, and said that GM does benefit from the donation.

"It is our pleasure and excitement to hand over the electric vehicle to Brigham Young to promote the studies here at Brigham Young," said Dean. "And we hope to reap some rewards from your investigations."

"We've recruited at BYU every year since I was here," said Dean. "BYU creates leaders. You see it on the football field, you see it in the business world, but you also see it in the design world."

In addition to being a recruiter and mentor at BYU, Dean heads up GM's H2 project, a somewhat civilized sister to the wide wheel based Hummer, Dean said.

"Students participating in the design partnership bring fresh ideas to important projects like the H2," Dean said. "It gives us the opportunity to see what we can do next."



Copyright Brigham Young University 19 Sep 2002