Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2008: A record-breaking year

Chief among the record-breakers was the team from De Haagse Hogeschool in the Netherlands, which recorded a 848 km/l result with its Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in the UrbanConcept category, up from the event record of 810 km/l. The 2007 CO2 emissions record was also improved on by Lulea University of Technology achieving 6.15 grammes of CO2 emissions per kilometre with their UrbanConcept vehicle. This year's Prototype winner, Lyceé La Joliverie, also surpassed its 2007 winning performance, recording a result of 3,383 km/l.

The Shell Eco-marathon Europe continues to be a truly international event, and this year’s entries included teams from Hungary, Norway and Singapore. As ever, the event was fuelled by the students' enthusiasm which makes this environmental engineering challenge such a unique event.

Commenting on this year’s edition, Global Shell Eco-marathon Manager Mark Singer stated: “The 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Europe was once again a great demonstration of how real-life vehicles designed and built by student teams can really lead the way to a cleaner and environmentally aware future. In addition to the educational aspect of the event, the Shell Eco-marathon Europe also shows how increasing fuel efficiency and lowering CO2 emissions can be fun for the thousands of students involved.”

The final results – UrbanConcept category

With 848 km/l, the Dutch team of the De Haagse Hogeschool / TH Rijswijk Academie voor Egineering took home first prize in the UrbanConcept category with their hydrogen powered vehicle. The top three was completed by teams from Norway and Turkey, all three running on hydrogen. The best result recorded by an internal combustion engine was achieved by Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.

The Swedish team, which recorded a result of 299km/l with its ethanol-powered engine, also won the Climate Change Award for producing the lowest amount of C02 with 6.15 g/km, breaking last year's record of 9 g/km! The team also won a third prize, the Bosch Technical Innovation Award, for its exhaust gas recirculation system that has an overall efficiency of 90%.

The Portuguese team, FEUP Porto, came in fifth place with 291 km/l. The highest placed alternative fuel UrbanConcept vehicle was the Roadrunners of the Technical University of Denmark, which came eighth overall.

The final results – Prototype category

The Prototype category was again won by the French team of Lyceé La Joliverie with a result of 3,382 km/l, an improvement on its winning performance of 3,297 km/l of last year. Runner-up was the University of Applied Sciences, Offenburg, Germany, which achieved a result of 3,198 km/l with its hydrogen fuel cell engine. The team from the University Paul Sabatier Insa Toulouse came third with a result of 3,036km/l.

The Lycée La Joliverie also won the Climate Friendly Award for achieving 0.8 grammes of CO2 emissions per kilometre.

The Bosch Technical Innovation Award in this category was won by ESSTIN, Nancy (France). Its fuel cell engine was commended for its efficiency and flexibility.

The ‘EcoEmotion’ team from Merseburg University and the Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts Design Halle, Germany received both the SKF Design Award and the Autodesk Eco-design Award. Their shark-shaped vehicle was built using silk fibres, Balsa wood and resins coming from natural materials that also helped reduce the weight and overall fuel consumption.

For more information about the event, please visit www.shell.com/eco-marathon