When designing and building the Eco XIV, our primary focus was finding the balance between staying efficient, while also complying with the regulations of the RDW. Driving on the public roads mean we face challenges at intersections, where we will have to yield to other traffic. This will affect our efficiency. The Eco XIV also needs to be reliable enough to reach our end goal of this year – to set the world record for the longest distance driven by a hydrogen-powered city car on a single tank of fuel on the public roads!
There is another challenge which does not lie with the car, but rather with the driver. The driver can’t just mindlessly drive around anymore, as they must partake in traffic. That is why the car this year must not only be certified for the streets, but must also give the driver a certain sense of security, ensuring the driver’s comfort throughout the journey.
The Eco-Runner stands for the transition all cars need to make – cars need to become more efficient, whether driving on fossil fuels or not. The Eco XIV pushes the technical boundaries of this efficiency as we make the step from concept to reality. By making this car road-legal, we aim to show that the use of Eco-Runners in the mobility sector is practical and relevant.
A key step in making the Eco XIV so efficient is limiting the energy losses within the car. These losses include rolling resistance and air drag, but also the losses that occur when converting hydrogen to electricity and converting electricity to kinetical energy (movement) in the electrical motor. To minimize these energy losses, we, among other things, optimized our powertrain system with a brand-new fuel cell tuned to our needs.
Learn more about our new car by watching the videos below, where we explain the innovations on our car in more detail.
For the car wrap this year, we added elements of Delft and Friesland. You can see the skyline of Delft consisting of the Nieuwe and Oude Kerk. You can also see the campus, with the faculty of EWI and the Dream Hall being visible. We did this to put our beloved city in the spotlight.
We also added elements of Friesland, using ice skaters to refer to the Elfstedentocht. We did this as our World Record Attempt this year will take place on the route of the Elfstedentocht in Friesland. Our ultimate goal is to drive the Elfstedentocht 10 times, surpassing a distance of 2056km driven on the public road without refuelling. All of this with our road-legal, hydrogen-powered Eco XIV.
© Stichting Eco-Runner Team Delft 2024-2025