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FINALS!!

The Progressive Automotive Insurance Competition is down to just 12 teams and 15 cars! This should prove to be an exciting race!

And here they are: all the teams are nice and cozy in one building, it's a good thing we all get along!

This just in!

We completed and passed all Efficiency Events and after penalties have officially achieved 82 MPGe! Without penalties we would have gotten 92 MPG!]

Well done team!

Dinner with the President

The team was invited to dinner with the President of Western Washington University. Who knew the boys would clean up so well?

Baby Pictures

Before it was even born, a lot of ideas were thrown about on what Viking 45 should look like. Here are some of the concept drawings from students in our very own Industrial Design program.











V45 in one of it's earliest stages. Here we see students spending time over their winter break from school to assemble some of the lightweight carbon fiber panels to form the high strength monocoque chassis.

Blast from the Past

A little history behind the VRI at WWU:

When Dr. Michael Seal, “Doc,” founded the Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) at Western Washington University in 1975, he had a simple goal: make cars that are lighter, faster, and more efficient in every way. Since then, over 40 vehicles have been designed and built by undergraduate students and faculty that do just that.

As one of the leading schools for automotive design in the region, the WWU VRI has a long track record of excellence both in competition and in the media. The VRI has been awarded the EPA's P3 Award for vehicle emissions, displayed a vehicle at NASA Ames research labs in California, been mentioned at the Los Angeles International Auto Show and published in Seattle Metropolitan, Automotive Magazine, and on Wired.com.

The WWU X PRIZE Team works along side the WWU Mini Baja Team, Formula FSAE Team, and Hybrid Bus Team within the VRI. Over the years, more than $7,000,000 has been raised by the VRI in grants from government, industry and private individuals to complete the various projects in the VRI.

What's in a Name?

Of all the car names out there right now, ours is probably one of the more interesting: Viking 45. But where did it come from? And what does it mean? It’s a simple answer, really.

The fierce Viking is the mascot for Western Washington University. Since its founding in 1979, each vehicle from WWU’s Vehicle Research Institute has been given the name “Viking” followed by the successive number.

To see past vehicles, visit the VRI site: http://vri.etec.wwu.edu/cars.html

Vroooom Vrooooom!

After spending hours in the shop away from homework, loved ones, and beds, the team crossed one of their larges milestones of the project: getting Viking 45 running. Team members cheered as their creation emerged from the VRI into the wide-open world.

IT'S AAALLIIIIIVEEEE!!!!!

Team members were all smiles today as Viking 45 set sailed on her maiden voyage.


After months of planning and construction, the WWU X PRIZE Team entry car, V45, successfully propelled herself out into the world (she even had fully functional brakes!). The trip was short but sweet and gave team members new hope and plenty of things to work on!

A link for the video will be up soon!

Germany's Auto Mobil visit the WWU X PRIZE Team and V40's make over

Viking 40 receives a make-over to show off our sponsors and to thank all of those who helped make it possible.




The boys from Auto Mobil have come all the way from Germany to interview X PRIZE Teams across the country. While visiting us, Doc Seal (the founder of WWU's VRI) was more than happy to drive them around in Viking 7.


And once the rain let up, we took Viking 40 out for a spin to try out it's new skin.