Viking 32 is the last Viking car to be built under the direction of Dr. Seal. It was funded with $200,000 from WWU and an $800,000 contract from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Viking 32 hybrid safety vehicle attempts to show that a vehicle designed to produce little or no CO2 can provide the desired features of a sport utility vehicle without giving up any of the desirable features of a passenger car. Unlike the hybrid vehicles currently sold in the USA which make minimal use of the electric drive, the Viking 32 has 100 hp (75 kW) available from the front drive electric propulsion motor and 100 hp (75 kW) from the rear drive internal combustion engine (ICE). Each system is used during the driving range in a manner that provides the highest efficiency possible unless maximum performance all wheel drive (AWD) is called for at wide open throttle (WOT) when both power plants run.
In May 2004, the Viking 32 competed in the sixteenth Tour de Sol five day competition sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). This year the event started in Burlington, New Jersey, where technical inspection was completed, and fuel economy, acceleration, and braking tests were run over a three day period. The event then had an economy run to Trenton, New Jersey. After being on display in Trenton, the cars competed in an Autocross before moving on to the Seaport in New York City. They were displayed for the day, and in the late afternoon the awards were given out to the winners. Viking 32 won all the performance awards: best acceleration 0-74 mph in 6.2 seconds, best in braking, best time in the autocross. It achieved 50 mpg in fuel economy (our target for the contract). It was third overall in the light duty modified/prototype hybrid class.
Viking 32 is currently configured to run on bio-methane a renewable energy source provided by the VanderHaak Dairy Anaerobic Manure Digester Facility in Lynden, WA. More information on the VanderHaak Dairy Anaerobic Manure Digester can be found
here.
Click
here for a ABC News Story on V32 and bio-methane.