NewsWatch: 2006: Trinity Hybrid

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Andy Fell:] This vehicle built by UC Davis students could be the future of transportation. "Trinity" is a plug-in hybrid that runs on sustainable energy.

[Beth Solik:] You can run all-electric range where you're not using gasoline, and so if you count that into your gasoline mileage people run quotes up to 150, 200 miles per gallon.

[Andy Fell:] With its big battery pack, Trinity can drive up to 45 miles on electric power alone. But it's built to meet or exceed the performance of the original SUV.

[Beth Solik:] If you drove only 45 miles a day all year, you'll never use gas.

[Andy Fell:] It's the latest in a series of award-winning vehicles, including big SUVs and sedans, built by UC Davis engineering professor Andy Frank and his students. Trinity is the UC Davis entry in the national Challenge X competition, sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. The competition challenges teams to design a mid-size SUV for fuel efficiency and low emissions, using the same tools as auto industry designers. Team members are also taking their skills into local classrooms. By showing kids how to use math, Peter English hopes to build a pipeline to college.

[Peter English:] Right now I'm working with Vacaville Unified School district in Vaca Pena Middle School, and we're also working at a rural school called Little Oak School. So they pretty much do what we do here in the lab, but on a scale they can understand and manage in the amount of time that they have.

[Andy Fell:] Trinity takes part in the Challenge X competition in Phoenix this June. Then the teams get another year to perfect their vehicles before the finals in 2007. Reporting from UC Davis, I'm Andy Fell.

[Narrator:] For more information, please log onto broadcast.ucdavis.edu