U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne National Lab Select LSU for EcoCAR Innovation Challenge
April 16, 2026
The U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory recently selected LSU to participate in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge, an Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition that challenges university teams to apply cutting-edge engineering to real vehicles while developing the technical, leadership, and project management skills needed for careers in automotive engineering, transportation, and advanced manufacturing.
LSU’s EcoCAR team will be challenged to design and build intelligent mobility solutions and innovative products using emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence for engineering tools, machine learning, and exascale computing. 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.
General Motors and Stellantis will sponsor one of the two competition tracks, with LSU participating in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge for the Stellantis Vehicle Track. Stellantis will provide the LSU team with a 2026 Jeep Cherokee Hybrid in January that will be worked on over a three-year span until the competition ends in May 2030. Until then, LSU students will use a battery cell to form battery modules that will then form a battery pack to be integrated into the Jeep. Students will begin working on the EV battery at the beginning of the fall 2026 semester.
LSU's EcoCAR team standing in front of a 2026 Jeep Cherokee
– Photo credit: Argonne National Laboratory
"I am excited to represent LSU's renowned engineering program as a student leader in the DOE Ecocar Challenge,” said Gareth Oram, LSU FSAE TigerRacing Club president. “LSU's FSAE program has taught me many skills that have made me a better engineer, and I am looking forward to using those skills in this challenge as well as learning more.”
LSU has been pursuing the electric vehicle option due to its superior acceleration from instantaneous torque and single-speed transmission, enabling fast 0-60 performance.
“LSU engineers love a challenge, and this team is ready to bring their ingenuity and expertise together to build a better hybrid vehicle,” said Vicki Colvin, dean of LSU's College of Engineering. “Being a part of the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge will give our students another opportunity to gain real-world experience by solving a real-world problem, the kind that demands a diverse team and emerging technology.”
LSU Division of Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Xiangyu Meng serves as a lead faculty advisor for the LSU EcoCAR team and said that he is seeking other LSU students to join the team before the fall.
“Any LSU student who is passionate about the automotive industry can reach out to me if interested in joining the LSU EcoCAR team,” he said. “By the beginning of the fall semester, we’re looking for LSU ME, EE and CSE students for the technical part, and LSU business and journalism students for the innovation part of the challenge.”
To learn more about the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge, visit https://avtcseries.org/about-the-ecocar-ev-challenge/.