General Motors Donates Electronic Vehicle to UC's Industrial Design Department

General Motors' extraordinary partnership with the University of Cincinnati's School of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) just keeps getting better. On Thursday, Aug. 22 at approximately 8 a.m., a slick 70-foot customized van will deliver a red and black EV1 (Electric Vehicle) to the doors of DAAP. The non-running EV1, originally launched in the fall of 1996, is the first modern from-the-ground-up electric car. It's a car with: no noise, no pistons, no sparks, no explosions, no engine, no transmission, no gas, no exhaust and no pollution. It's efficient, sleek and stylish, and it's a powerful car with the ability to transform the future of the industry and the environment.

Getting the EV1 into the Aronoff Center for Design and Art, an award-winning DAAP building, will be the first challenge, but only the beginning of the fun for the students in the transportation track of the Industrial Design Program. Once the car is on site, the General Motors Design Team will invite UC students to tear it down, re-build it, evaluate its advanced aerodynamic system, examine its state-of-the-art use of lightweight materials, re-use its chassis, body, etc. to create hybrid running vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles or new electric vehicles. In short, students will use the EV1 as inspiration to envision the future of American automotive design. Robert Probst, the college's director of Design puts it this way: "It is an honor that General Motors, one of the world's most important corporations, would donate an EV1 to DAAP. It is testimony to their conviction that our students have the ability to brainstorm the next generation of vehicles."

Traveling with the EV1 from Detroit are UC alums Stuart B. Shuster, Education Relations Consultant, General Motors Design Center, and Brian Smith, Design Manager of Advanced Vehicles, both graduates of DAAP.

The EV1 Donation Program is the latest of many collaborations between General Motors and DAAP. GM's donation of a 5-axis mill to the college, allowing the production of actual models, significantly enhanced DAAP's capabilities for automotive design. On-site visits by GM professionals and frequent video-conferencing opportunities give DAAP students the luxury of face-to-face interaction with top designers and executives.

Additionally, DAAP students enjoy internships and scholarships, thanks to the generosity of General Motors. According to Shuster, "The General Motors Design Center is investing in the future of the automotive industry through the development of creative young designers." Probst believes that the newest initiative, the donation of the EV1, will open up a "whole new frontier" of design inspiration.