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Are you tired of high gas prices? What if you could take your 19 mile per gallon SUV and double its fuel efficiency? Students at the University of Tulsa say they've done just that with some significant renovations.
Four years ago, the students started with a brand new SUV and a challenge -- maintain the convenience of an SUV, but make it as fuel efficient as possible.
It's the future of automotive engineering, brought to you by students in Engineering.
"I really think this is what you're going to start seeing for the next 20 years," says Engineering Professor Christi Patton Luks.
"I've been working on this since my freshman year," adds Andrew Harmon.
It's a combo -- a hybrid electric bio-diesel vehicle.
"There's not many of those around," says Kyle Hanneman. "And it also has a hydrogen fuel skid in the back that also supplements our charge."
Translation? A fast, fuel-efficient SUV.
"This vehicle stock got 19 city, maybe 20 highway, so we improved it quite a bit," Harmon says.
Research this spring took the students on a trip to New York to test their concept against 16 other student teams.
"Through our last competition results, we've achieved 34.6."
That's their miles per gallon rating, measured on New York City streets and highways.
"The diesel engine can haul," Luks says. "They're not like what people remember in the old days of slow to accelerate. No, it really has some muscle and then we add the electric boost to it. It's an awesome vehicle."
Now the downside -- you won't find this SUV on the car lot today. The hydrogen system alone adds about 30-thousand dollars to the cost of the car.
"Most people won't be in the market for that," Luks says. "It's something we were doing to test what can be done in the future."
"I'm hoping to shoot for 100 one of these days," says student Zach Jones.
That 34.6 rating was in New York. But, the students had also done their calculations and got as high as 38 miles per gallon. The SUV's hydrogen fuel skid is also a portable generator.
The vehicle also cut pollution. The students placed 5-H in the national competition.
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