Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marshall Molen
Team Leader: Blake Brown
Communications Managers: Kimberly Torries and Claire Faccini
Business Manager: Brooks Davis

Team Description
Mississippi State University (MSU) first became involved in advanced vehicle technology competitions (AVTCs) during the four-year ChallengeX competition in 2004, followed by EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge. With EcoCAR 2, the team is now in its eighth year of AVTCs. The MSU EcoCAR 2 team has 84 members who are pursuing degrees in 16 major study areas. The team is led by a graduate student in mechanical engineering, Matthew Doude, and by graduate student group leaders, all of whom have significant experience in AVTCs. Currently, the MSU team is composed of six sub groups: mechanical, electrical, controls, business, communications, and emissions. The team’s leadership is provided by graduate students Matthew Doude, Blake Brown, Jon Moore, Josh Hoop, Kimberly Torries, Brooks Davis, and the Faculty Advisor is Dr. Marshall Molen.

Vehicle Design
The MSU team has designed their 2013 Chevrolet Malibu to be a series-parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The vehicle will be fueled by ethanol, or E85, and electricity. It will use energy taken from the electric grid through plug-in charging to propel it for the first 60 miles. Its electric powertrain consists of a lithium-ion battery donated by A123 Systems, and a UQM 145 kW permanent-magnet DC traction motor. Once the battery is depleted, the vehicle’s turbocharged GM 1.4 L engine will power the wheels, providing extended range. Both the electric traction motor and the engine will transmit their power to the wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. This architecture will allow an all-electric range, which is crucial in reducing oil dependency, and offer very high efficiency once the battery is depleted and the car is running on liquid fuel.