UW-Madison and American Le Mans Series showcase green vehicles

The cars and stars of the American Le Mans Series will be on display along with the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s EcoCar at the state Capitol Wednesday, Aug. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Among the cars showcased at the corner of East Main Street and South Pinckney Street will be the Dyson Racing Mazda Lola that runs on isobutanol, the Drayson Racing Lola B09/60 Judd that runs on cellulosic E85 and the Green Earth Team Gunnar’s ORECA-FLM 09 prototype that runs on biodegradable motor oil made of beef tallow.

Special guests include Series drivers Gunnar Jeannette, Green Earth Team Gunnar, and Joey Hand, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing.

From 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., UW–Madison’s EcoCar and the Le Mans Series will present a joint program emphasizing the parallels between technologies and alternative fuels being researched at UW–Madison and other universities and those being developed by Le Mans Series manufacturers and teams. The program will take place in Room 417 North at the Capitol.

The EcoCar program selects student teams from across North America to re-engineer a General Motors-provided Saturn Vue using advanced powertrain technologies to minimize energy consumption, emissions and greenhouse gases.

The American Le Mans Series is the only major sports series in the world that competes exclusively with multiple alternative fuels and energy sources. The five approved energy sources include clean diesel, two ethanol blends (cellulosic E85 and E10), isobutanol and gas-electric hybrid. The series recently announced the North American debut of Porsche’s GT3 R Hybrid at its season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.