WWU Faculty Focus presents Eric Leonhardt and Steven Fleishman, Vehicle Research Institute

The Vehicle Research Institute is Western Washington University's award-winning vehicle-design laboratory, producing everything from solar-powered vehicles to its electric-biomethane hybrid.

Three of the VRI's projects focus on alternative fuels and increased fuel efficiency:
- Viking 45 - A prototype vehicle for the Progressive Automotive X Prize. Designed to attain 100 mpg, the vehicle is made of lightweight composites and should weigh around 1,400 pounds, including two occupants. Both a hybrid and an electric version of the vehicle are planned.
- Viking 32 -Turning cow power into horsepower, this parallel hybrid vehicle runs on biomethane derived from dairy waste. A pilot scale biomethane refinery is being built to turn biogas from Lynden's Vander Haak Dairy's anaerobic digester into biomethane (natural gas) fuel for vehicles. The designed capacity is 100,000 gasoline-equivalent-gallons of energy per year.
- Kitsap Transit Access Bus - A low-floor, composite hybrid 14-passenger bus is being designed for Kitsap County and several other transit authorities across Washington state.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Vehicle
• Research
• Institute
• Western
• Washington
• University
• vehicle-design
• laboratory
• solar-powered
• electric-biomethane
• hybrid