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WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT 2024

Our tank is empty and we managed to drive 1273 kilometres on less than 1.45 kilograms of hydrogen!

We have DRIVEN

0 KM

In this section we will give more in depth updates about the progress of our World Record Attempt. With our blog and vlogs we want to show what our adventure looks like!

UPDATE DAY 8

The last day of our World Record Attempt.

Last night, Crew A drove the ECO XIV back to basecamp with drivers Nadine and Isabel. As all of our drivers have now been behind the wheel several times, we have mastered the art of efficient driving. So let’s take a look at what role all the different vehicles in the convoy play in this:

Van: at the front of the convoy, the van pays attention to all traffic, intersections, turns and bumps on the road coming from ahead. To drive efficiently, the Van Driver speeds up to intersections and narrower roads to let the Eco driver know when they can cross so they can brake as little as possible which is communicated by the Van Communicator. At the end of this week, our vans have become experts at calculating when the Eco-Runner should speed up or let go of the gas. And whenever we encounter some tricky situations, our van drivers have also discovered the power of using their warning lights.
Eco-Runner: in the heart of the convoy, the Eco-Runner has to drive as efficiently as possible by keeping a constant speed and braking as little as possible. This sometimes leads to some Formula One like situations on round-a-bouts and tight corners. By staying close to the Van, we can also minimise air resistance.
Mirai: at the back of the convoy, the Mirai pays attention to the traffic coming from behind, signalling when traffic could overtake. Also, the Mirai Communicator is constantly looking at the data from the Eco-Runner, letting the driver know at what speed, battery and fuel cell power to drive and brake.

With a blood moon on the horizon, Crew A finished the lap just before 1 AM. Tired from the long driving, they all went to bed quickly after that.

A mere 6 hours later, Crew B was already up and running for the last driving shift. The weather could not have been more perfect, for everyone except the Eco Driver. With a safety suit, helmet and little ventilation, the Eco-Runner cockpit had turned into a sauna by 9 AM. Once we were ready, it was time to set off for the final stretch! To stay entertained, the communication lines were not only used for information and strategy, but also to ask each other random trivia questions, tell (Belgian) jokes and listen to our favourite radio station: NPO Soul & Jazz. Fully entertained and enjoying the Frisian landscape for the last time, we reached the driver switch location in no time.

Here, Sten took over the last driving shift with only 5 bar left in the tank. The first couple of kilometres went very smoothly, until the motor started struggling with the little power being given by the fuel cell. So we decided to put the Eco beside the road and use the fuel cell to charge the battery. And then the tank was empty! With the battery charged to 67% percent we set off for the last time. In the meantime, the rest of the team had gathered behind us, forming an entire parade at the back of the Eco-Runner.

Finally, just before Sloten, we reached the last 1% of the battery. But the Eco was not ready to give up just yet. Not wanting to come to a stop in the middle of town, we quickly turned the Eco the Eco-Runner around to drive back onto the calm roads next to the water. Here, the Eco blew out its last breaths, stopping and going several times. Tricking us all by continuing several times until she finally came to a full stop. An astonishing 1273 kilometres!!! This was the moment we had all been working towards for the past 10 months, and all the pride came out as we celebrated together. To commemorate this moment, each of us put our signature on the bottom of the Eco-Runner. Then, we all went to Lemmer to have a nice dinner together! And then, sadly, it was already time to head back to Delft. An amazing week we will all never forget!

UPDATE DAY 7

This morning, Crew C got up at 5:30 to prepare the Eco-Runner for the journey towards the 1000 kilometres. Unfortunately, the Eco XIV had other plans and was not ready to leave just yet. So after some repairs were made, the battery was then able to be recharged with hydrogen. Eventually, we were able to leave at 10:30, and Thijs drove the first leg excellently. From now on, every gain in efficiency counts, so communication between the support vehicle, the Mirai, and the Eco-Runner is crucial.

To drive as efficiently as possible, we have decided to slow down whenever and wherever we can. This does mean that our motor controller sometimes has difficulty keeping up, as we are giving as little gas as possible. After Thijs, it was Lucy’s turn to drive and cross the 1000 km mark! Driving south along the west coast of Friesland, they reached the crew switch location at the end of the afternoon. There, they were met by Crew A who were ready to take over and drive at a peak efficiency back to base camp. Since the tank is on its last grams of hydrogen, it is key to drive even more efficiently than before. Right now we are driving around 1 km per gram of hydrogen.

When the sun was starting to set the whole team came to the driver switch location to bring us a lovely dinner and take a team photo together. Luckily a local farmer was there to man the camera!

After the stop, the last driving hours of the day started. We ended the drive with 19 bars left in the tank, and 1142.68 km on the odometer, which means there are still quite some kilometres to drive so the 1360 km of Toyota will be tight. Driving into the beautiful sunset again, it gives us mixed feelings to know it is almost over but also amazing to see how far we have already driven!

Tomorrow Crew B will drive further and try to get as many kilometres on the odometer as we can until the tank is empty. A very exciting day ahead!

UPDATE DAY 6

The Crews have been shuffled and with renewed motivation, the new Crew A set off today on the “Tocht der Tochten”. Crew A was all ready to go, but the ECO XIV decided it wanted to sleep in a bit longer. However, Martijn managed to wake up our battery in just a few moments, enabling us to continue our World Record Attempt. From our new accommodation with a long gravel path, the Eco-Runner was pushed and placed on the road where it would start its journey.

Isabel was the first driver and Nadine took over afterwards. They drove efficiently behind the van to reduce air resistance. Driving so close to another car requires good communication and even better trust in each other. During the driver switch, the Crew encountered a super sweet dog named Cody who was very interested in the team’s sandwiches. After this switch Nadine drove so efficiently we could turn our fuel cell off for the last 10 kilometres!

Around 15:00 in the afternoon Crew B was ready to take over driving. With Sten and Julie as drivers they were more than ready to complete the lap. While Crew B prepared to take off, Crew A drove into Bolsward to get Thijs some new socks and do some shopping for the barbecue!

The afternoon went smoothly. While the base camp was barbecuing Crew B managed to drive all the way to Franeker. Here they also got some nice burgers from the barbecue delivered to eat along the road. At 21:00 they already finished the lap and got back to the basecamp. But they were not done yet. To get all of the hours of sunlight they were driving a bit further, until the sun set. Willemijn made perfect use of the van by opening the back doors to make the best shots of the Eco-Runner. So enjoy the pictures.

We can go to sleep with a great feeling of achievement, because we have already covered many kilometres! On to the many more tomorrow with Crew C.

UPDATE DAY 5

Last night, Crew 1 brought the Eco-Runner home and finished the second full lap of the Elfstedentocht! Their drive went very well and they managed to drive extremely efficiently during the calm hours of the evening. Also, they had a beautiful sunset as they drove along the coast back to the base camp, which resulted in some very pretty photos. There they were met by the rest of the team who were cheering outside because we had already reached 520.11 kilometres!

Today, Crew 2 were the lucky ones to start off the day. On the weather forecast, we saw that rain was predicted, so they decided to drive the route in the opposite direction to evade as much rain as possible. With the wind blowing from their tail, they were able to drive the most efficient yet!

Meanwhile, back at the base camp, Crews 1 and 3 were busy packing and cleaning the house in preparation for our move to a new location for the final three days of our attempt.

As the afternoon rolled around, Crew 3 was set to take over and complete the lap. However, as soon as they arrived at the driver switch location, it started raining, which meant they could not continue. Fortunately, they had chosen the perfect spot for the switch—right next to a cosy café. While waiting for the rain to stop, they enjoyed some drinks and bitterballen.

After an hour of waiting, it became clear that the rain wasn’t going to let up. The whole team reconvened at the new house, where they shared a nice meal together and took the evening off, as the Eco-Runner wouldn’t be driving that night due to the rain. The first day of summer was celebrated in the rain with a delicious risotto in our cosy house and with a satisfied feeling as we still managed to drive 149 kilometres! So our total driven distance is now 669.11 kilometres.

This unexpected break gave the team the opportunity to watch the second Dutch game of the European Championships. The game was viewed at the Holwerterfeest, an annual village celebration. The whole village was there, and now, so was the Eco-Runner team.

After a relaxing evening, everyone went to bed, ready to rise early in the morning as a new crew will take over driving, hopefully in better weather.

UPDATE DAY 4

Yesterday, we finally completed our first official round of the Elfstedentocht, and let me tell you, it was amazing! Nadine had the honour of being the last driver for the day to bring the Eco-Runner home.

The day was filled with exciting firsts. In the morning, we had to use our horn for the very first time to gently remind a bachelorette party that we were on an important mission as well. We also made history by driving on hydrogen for the first time on a public road with our Eco-Runner. When Crew 2 took the wheel for the final stretch, they encountered their first sheep and cows on the road. They ended up driving until 11 pm, which meant they saw a beautiful sunset and had to use our headlights for the first time. When the crew came back, we all welcomed them home with a big applause and they shared some amazing stories of their experiences.

Then this morning, Crew 3 experienced their own set of firsts. They hadn’t driven yet during our World Record Attempt, and they were eager to make a strong debut and score big, so they woke up at 5:30 am to use all the daylight hours efficiently. They set off without any problems and quickly reached the first driver switch after Leeuwarden. However, shortly after they had a small hiccup with a bolt after a steep speed bump which resulted in quite some delays. Luckily, some kind people living nearby provided them with typical Frisian ice lollies so they were fully refreshed to take over driving until the next stop, where Crew 1 took over the second part of the second full round of the Elfstedentocht.

At the basecamp, all the crews have different roles. The electric vans need to be charged, which takes a lot of time, and the Toyota Mirai has to be refilled with hydrogen. We also have to clean, cook, study, make media updates, and work on improving the data from the fuel cell. The conclusion is that this World Record Attempt is a big operation, but a fun and exciting one as well. We play a lot of games, including the popular Dutch one called “sjoelen.” We play football with the local kids, watch the Euro Cup matches, and enjoy many other activities.

We are striving to drive a lot more rounds of the Elfstedentocht to reach our ambitious goal for the year, but whether we achieve it or not, this week has already been a great success.

UPDATE DAY 3

Today, we drove the first full round of the Elfstedentocht! So it’s time to go over all the adventures of the day.

Yesterday, our PES engineers racked their brains to find a solution for the technical issue we experienced when we tried to turn on the fuel cell after several kilometers of driving. There was a problem with our DC/DC converters that weren’t giving enough power to the fuel cell. But after some hours of hard work, they managed to find a solution just in time to see the last rays of the sunset.

In the morning, it was Crew 1’s turn to wake up at 5:30 am to get ready for the first driving shift of the day. Martijn, part of Crew 3, was pulled from his bed to help out with turning on the fuel cell, so we were able to drive off on hydrogen at 8:30 for the first leg of the route! After a short detour, we easily passed Dokkum and were on our way to Leeuwarden, one of the most challenging parts of the route due to the busy roads. Halfway through Leeuwarden, we experienced some other technical difficulties with our motor controller, so the ECO XIV had to be parked along the side of the road, where we managed to fix it. It was a stressful bit of driving, but thanks to the good communication and focus of the team, everything went very well!

And so we were off to the third city on the Elfstedentocht: Sneek. In between, we had a short break for some lunch and to switch drivers; it was now Lucy’s turn to get behind the wheel. Afterwards, we drove past IJlst and Sloten until we reached the southernmost part of the route. Here, we were met by Crew 2, who were ready to take over and start fresh on the second half of the lap with Sten as the driver.

Having driven the most yesterday, they set off as an experienced crew. However, very soon they had to tackle their first challenge: a glitch in the navigation system. Luckily, they were quickly back on track, and it was smooth sailing past Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, and Bolsward until we reached the final driver switch in Franeker. Here, it was time for a dinner stop with Shakshuka delivered straight from the basecamp kitchen. After herding some loose cows off the road, it was time for Nadine to drive the Eco-Runner back home!

Along the way, we were met and cheered on by many people. It’s great to see so many people enthusiastic about our project and following our attempt! If you want to know more juicy details about the last kilometers of crew 2, take a look at our blog tomorrow!

UPDATE DAY 2

Before we dive deeper into all the ins and outs of day 2, let’s first take a quick look back at our start event in Leeuwarden. During the presentations Erwin Jongh had an amazing surprise for us, one of the few gold hydrogen medals from Missie H2! In recognition of all of the hard work and significant achievements we have done since the start of the Eco-Runner team in 2005 to show the potential of hydrogen in a sustainable solution. This is something we as a team and all the teams before us are very proud of!

Once we arrived at our base camp in Holwerd, we installed ourselves in our rooms, had a nice dinner together and had a team briefing to reflect on the day and walk through the planning of the next day. After this, our engineers worked hard on finding a solution to the problem with our fuel cell, and after some time we were able to solve it!

This meant we could wake-up at 6am to let Crew 2 continue with our World Record Attempt. After some delays caused by some complications with the start-up of the battery, we were finally ready to set-off and drive to the first town on the Elfstedentocht: Dokkum. We started driving on the battery again, continuing to follow our initial strategy. The first kilometres went very smoothly, but then we reached a slight bump in the road. Due to an unexpected roadblock, we had to quickly find an alternative route to drive to Dokkum. Luckily, the alternative we found was a very scenic route straight through the Frisian countryside. Through Dokkum we drove over the Eebrug, the first bridge the ECO XIV has ever crossed!

Along the way, we were met by many people who recognised us and knew we were busy with our World Record Attempt. At one of our stops someone even gave us a newspaper with an article about us to read! After 25 km of some excellent driving by Thijs, it was time to turn on the fuel cell and continue to drive on hydrogen. This prompted a few technical issues that we first tried to resolve on location. However, after a while, we decided it would be best to bring the ECO XIV back to the base camp with all the tools on site. So we drove back a couple of kilometres where we were then met by the trailer to pick us up. Now we are back at base camp working hard on the repairs, until we can continue driving in the morning!

UPDATE DAY 1

Today, our day began at 7:00 AM at the Dream Hall so we could all travel to Friesland together. Once we arrived at the Oldehoofsterkerkhof in Leeuwarden, we were able to set everything up for the start event. A typical Dutch breeze made this more challenging than expected, but after some minor adjustments, the start event could finally begin.

On the square, we had our exhibition set up along with a refreshments stand filled with delicious Frisian orange cookies and “kwast.” The exhibition was once again a success, attracting attention from partners, family, friends, and locals from Leeuwarden. After enjoying the sunshine for a while, the start drew closer.

Before we could kick off, Provincial Executive De Vries from the province of Friesland sealed the hydrogen system with a sticker, making it officially impossible to add any extra hydrogen to our tank.

To mark the start beautifully, our Team Manager Xiao, Provincial Executive De Vries, and Erwin Jongh from Toyota addressed the audience to wish us a good start for this immense challenge.

Before the promising start, our team engineers worked hard to get the car running. Once successful, Max initiated the countdown, and the starting signal was given!

After that, the first metres of the street-legal Eco-Runner were driven! These were immediately very challenging metres, with many cycling children, cars, and roundabouts. But we left the Oldehoofsterkerkhof to great applause.

To utilise all the available energy in the car, our strategy was to start using only our battery. We planned to switch on the fuel cell to run on hydrogen after a few kilometres. Due to last-minute technical difficulties with our fuel cell during testing this weekend, we decided yesterday to start using only our battery. After driving a few kilometres, we picked up the Eco-Runner with the trailer and brought it to the base camp. At this moment, we are working on a solution to continue our World Record Attempt tomorrow morning!