STARKVILLE – Three years ago, students at Mississippi State University won a national advanced vehicle technology engineering competition, besting teams such as Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.

MSU hopes to finish on top again in the EcoCAR competition, which is sponsored by General Motors, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Canadian government and other groups.

“We’re ready and we think we’ll do well,” said Matthew Doude, MSU’s team project leader.

On Wednesday, team members put the finishing touches on the 2009 Saturn Vue sport utility vehicle provided by GM. On Saturday, the automaker will pick up MSU’s renovated vehicle, which will be tested and judged May 17-28 at GM’s proving grounds in Yuma, Ariz., and then in San Diego.

A 13-member team will travel to the competition.

The team began work in October and the vehicle is literally a shell of its former self.

“There’s not much left of the original except the body,” said Tom Goddette, a mechanical engineering major. “The engine bay is completely new, we’ve put in our own engine, installed two electric motors and a five-cell lithium-ion battery in the back.”

The 15-gallon fuel tank also has been replaced by a five-gallon tank.

“With all we’ve done, we’ve only added about 300 pounds to the vehicle,” Doude said. “Most of it is from the battery. We’re really proud of that.”

The point of the competition is to design a greener, more fuel-efficient vehicle. MSU is using hybrid technology – a diesel engine paired with an electric motor. In MSU’s design, the engine helps charge the batteries. Other teams are using other “fuels,” such as hydrogen.

“We think we’re utilizing the best resources we have available at CAVS,” said Goddette, referring to MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, where the team has built the vehicle.

MSU’s EcoCAR can travel about 50 miles in all-electric mode, plus about another 150 miles with the diesel engine.

MSU also has some momentum going into the competition. In February, during a winter workshop, the team ranked first in web design and third in computer modeling and simulation. It was the only team to place in both competition categories.

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Follow the MSU EcoCAR team at ecocar.msstate.edu and on Twitter at MSStateEcoCAR.