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Student Teams Show Off 'Green' Vehicles at LA Ride and Drive


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)

Opportunity for Comparison Drives of Collegiate Advanced Technology Vehicles

              Equipped with Biodiesel, Ethanol and Hydrogen

  WHAT:
  General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy will host a media ride
  and drive event featuring vehicles from the collegiate engineering
  competition Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility. Program
  officials also will reveal details for the next national competition
  beginning mid-2008.

  Challenge X is a unique multi-year engineering competition that provides
  17 university teams from across North America real-world engineering
  experience and the opportunity to follow the GM global vehicle development
  process to create advanced propulsion technology solutions that will
  increase energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact.  Each team has
  re-engineered a Chevy Equinox with a range of hybrid, plug-in or fuel cell
  propulsion systems, powered by alternative fuels such as biodiesel,
  ethanol and hydrogen.

  By participating in the Challenge X program, the students are gaining
  real-world engineering skills and hands-on learning that will better
  prepare them for their future engineering careers and will help seed the
  industry with engineers who are committed to advancing vehicle technology
  to address the energy and transportation challenges of the 21st Century.
  Since the competition began in 2004, GM has hired more than 50 Challenge X
  students.  Additional information about Challenge X is available on the
  Web at http://www.challengex.org/.

  WHO:
    *  Students from the 17 universities competing in Challenge X, including
       the teams from San Diego State University and the University of
       California, Davis
    *  Ed Wall, Program Manager, Vehicle Technologies, Energy Efficiency and
       Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
    *  Connie Bezanson, Challenge X Program Manager for the U.S Department
       of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
    *  Cindy Svetska, GM Powertrain Engineering Manager and Challenge X
    *  Tom Youngs, GM Powertrain Engineering Manager and Challenge X

  WHEN:
    *  Thursday, November 29, 2007
    *  Broadcast media: 5:30 to 8 a.m.
    *  Print media: 8 to 10 a.m.

  WHERE:
  Petersen Automotive Museum
  6060 Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax Avenue)
  Los Angeles, Calif. 90036

  PLEASE R.S.V.P TO:
  Jeff Ormond, 248-824-8205, jormond@stratacomm.net
  Kimberly DeClark, 202-441-0096, kdeclark@stratacomm.net