COMPETITION
Eco-Runner Team Delft competes in the Shell Eco-Marathon, a compettion devoted to making mobility more efficient. Shell challenges student teams to push the boundaries of technology, innovation and hard work in order to create the world’s most efficient cars. The Shell Eco-Marathon has existed since 1985 and is considered on of the biggest global student competitions with hundreds of competing teams.
The competition is divided into 2 classes; the Prototype Class and the Urban Concept Class. The prototype class has very few rules; students are challenged to create the most efficient vehicle possible. This oftenly results in a vehicle with 3 wheels (less rolling resistance) and a weight of approximately 30 kilograms, as seen on the picture on the left.
The Urban Concept Class is a bit more restricted; the vehicle must have 4 wheels, the driver has to sit up straight, the car must have lights, a windshield wiper ans space for luggage. All this is done in order to simulate a city car.
3 years ago Eco-Runner Team Delft made the switch from the Prototype Class to the Urban Concept Class in order to make the project more relevant and feasible.
The two classes are subdivided into energy categories. The options are: Internal Combustion Engine, Battery-Electric and Hydrogen Fuel Cell. Eco-Runner Team Delft chooses to power their Urban Concept Class car with a Hydrogen Fuel Cell.
The Shell Eco-Marathon is a race where every team has 4 attempts to deliver their optimal efficiency, expressed in km/kg hydrogen. The team with the highest efficiency wins the competition!
Last year the Shell Eco-Marathon was cancelled due to COVID-19. Instead, we organized our own competition with 2 other dutch teams. This competition, called the Hydrogen Efficiency Challenge, was won by Eco-Runner with an efficiency of 3394 km/kg!
