No success for HvA-students in London’s Eco marathon
The annual Shell Eco-marathon that took place in London last week did not end well for the participating HvA students. Neither teams’ sustainable energy-driven cars made the finishing line.
The Shell Eco marathon is a race that focuses on efficiency rather than speed, tasking students and young engineers to design a futuristic vehicle that can drive as far as possible with the least amount of energy.
Vehicle EVA and H2A
‘It was tough but also really fun’, says team captain of Team EVA, Bas Duteweert (25, Engineering, Design and Innovation) of the 100% electric EVA car that didn’t make the finish line. Duteweert: ‘The car was too heavy and consumed too much energy.’ After it became clear that they were not going to make it with a regular battery, team EVA tried using a larger one. Shortly thereafter, however, the vehicle hit a hole in the road and one of the supporting arms broke down. ‘We tried our best.’
The hydrogen driven H2A car was even more unlucky with the car incorrectly displaying its speed so that its driver flew over a U-turn at twice the speed he thought. The vehicle flipped over. ‘That was scary’, says H2A team captain Kars van Gijn. Luckily driver Dinuja Sellathurai was unharmed. The vehicle managed to drive on with just a few scratches but never crossed the finish line due to a failing hydrogen cell. ‘That was indeed the most complex part of our vehicle,’ said van Gijn.
Better next year
A new team of sophomore students from the Engineering Design and Innovation programme will take part next year. This year’s race was won by the Green Team Twente from the Universiteit Twente. In 2014, the HvA team became European champion in the category for hydrogen cell driven vehicles.
