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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) today selected 20 universities to participate in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge. This is the 15th episode of DOE’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC) series, which challenges university students to design and build “intelligent mobility solutions and innovative products” using emerging technologies, now including artificial intelligence for engineering tools, machine learning, and exascale computing. [Exascale computing involves supercomputers capable of performing at least one quintillion calculations per second. AutoCrat]*
“The Innovation Challenge is an investment in the next era of the American workforce,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy (EERE) Audrey Robertson. “This unprecedented collaboration between GM and Stellantis underscores the importance of building a skilled US workforce and promoting innovation. We hope to fast-track technological breakthroughs, improve the competitiveness of the American auto industry, and expand the range of options available to American consumers.”
General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) have joined the Challenge as sponsors, along with technology partner MathWorks. This combination of government and industry partners focuses on cultivating the next generation of auto-industry innovators. This is the first collaboration between two major automakers in the same series in more than 25 years. Additional EcoCAR Innovation Challenge sponsors announced today include Caterpillar, Siemens Digital Industries Software, dSPACE, Bosch, Altec, Hesse, and Volta Foundation.
In addition to their use of emerging technologies, participating teams will explore modifications to the vehicle propulsion system to optimize efficiency through the design and integration of electric motor systems and team-built, high-voltage batteries. GM and Stellantis will each sponsor one of the two competition tracks, which provide distinct engineering challenges and vehicle platforms that reflect the choices available to North American customers.
Universities Participating in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge
- California State University, Los Angeles – Stellantis Track
- Colorado School of Mines – Stellantis Track
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – General Motors Track
- Georgia Institute of Technology – General Motors Track
- Louisiana State University – Stellantis Track
- McMaster University – General Motors Track
- Mississippi State University – General Motors Track
- The Ohio State University – Stellantis Track
- Pennsylvania State University – General Motors Track
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology – Stellantis Track
- Texas A&M University – Stellantis Track
- The University of Alabama – General Motors Track
- University at Buffalo – Stellantis Track
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte – Stellantis Track
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Stellantis Track
- University of Waterloo – Stellantis Track
- University of Wisconsin-Madison – General Motors Track
- Virgina Polytechnic Institute and State University – General Motors Track
- Western Michigan University – General Motors Track
- West Virginia University – General Motors Track
- “EcoCAR develops engineers who understand how to integrate software, controls, advanced powertrains, and the customer experience into a single system,” said Ken Morris, Senior Vice President of Product Programs, Product Safety, Integration and Motorsports at General Motors. “We’re proud to support this competition and to help students build the practical expertise that the auto industry needs right now and we are excited to announce GM has selected the 2026 Chevy Blazer EV to provide to teams.”
- “Tomorrow’s mobility solutions will be shaped by teams who can take on real-world challenges, innovate across disciplines and provide practical, intelligent results for our customers,” said Micky Bly, Senior Vice President, Global Propulsion Systems Engineering – Stellantis N.V. “EcoCAR gives students that experience, and we’re excited to support their development by providing the 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid, which will offer meaningful technical and learning engagement for the teams.”
- “Students learn best by building, and EcoCAR lets them build using the same Model-Based Design and simulation workflows widely used in industry,” said Lauren Tabolinsky, Senior Manager, Student and Academic Global Programs at MathWorks. “We’re proud to support a program that helps bridge academic learning with engineering practices that translate directly to the workplace.”
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
EcoCAR Innovation Challenge Pits General Motors v Stellantis
Click for more.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) today selected 20 universities to participate in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge. This is the 15th episode of DOE’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC) series, which challenges university students to design and build “intelligent mobility solutions and innovative products” using emerging technologies, now including artificial intelligence for engineering tools, machine learning, and exascale computing. [Exascale computing involves supercomputers capable of performing at least one quintillion calculations per second. AutoCrat]*
“The Innovation Challenge is an investment in the next era of the American workforce,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy (EERE) Audrey Robertson. “This unprecedented collaboration between GM and Stellantis underscores the importance of building a skilled US workforce and promoting innovation. We hope to fast-track technological breakthroughs, improve the competitiveness of the American auto industry, and expand the range of options available to American consumers.”
General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) have joined the Challenge as sponsors, along with technology partner MathWorks. This combination of government and industry partners focuses on cultivating the next generation of auto-industry innovators. This is the first collaboration between two major automakers in the same series in more than 25 years. Additional EcoCAR Innovation Challenge sponsors announced today include Caterpillar, Siemens Digital Industries Software, dSPACE, Bosch, Altec, Hesse, and Volta Foundation.
In addition to their use of emerging technologies, participating teams will explore modifications to the vehicle propulsion system to optimize efficiency through the design and integration of electric motor systems and team-built, high-voltage batteries. GM and Stellantis will each sponsor one of the two competition tracks, which provide distinct engineering challenges and vehicle platforms that reflect the choices available to North American customers.
Universities Participating in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.