Dutch student teams apply for an official licence plate

Student-built cars that can travel hundreds, or even thousands, of kilometres on a single litre of fuel are common at Shell Eco-marathon. Yet just a few metres away, outside the competition’s road circuit, the average motorist only manages about 15 kilometres per litre. Participating teams from the Technical University of Eindhoven and the University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem-Nijmegen asked themselves how they might close this gap. With help from the Dutch Road Transport Agency, they want to bring their super-efficient cars to the attention of the wider public, on the open road.

"Our initiative raises the question of car design ", says Paul Claessen, the faculty advisor of the HAN Hydromotive team. "Does it need to weigh 1,500 kilograms, have five seats and a large boot, to transport only one person? There is much to be gained by using a different design around town and over short distances. But then you must be prepared to compromise on luxury, comfort and speed."

Seeking approval

These two Dutch teams will have to comply with rigorous standards. The Dutch Road Transport Agency will inspect their cars for 25 technical specifications listed in Dutch law. If the cars meet all requirements, they will receive a motorcycle certificate that permits them to drive on public roads at a maximum speed of 45 kilometres an hour.

"We don't ask the impossible of the teams", says Arjan van Vliet, Senior Strategy Advisor for the agency, commonly known by its Dutch initials, RDW. "But we do advise teams to bear the rules in mind right from the design phase. The more changes you have to make to an existing car, the more expensive it becomes to pass inspections."

So, teams that want to get a licence plate have to do their homework. In addition to the dimensions of the vehicle, the rules cover steering and braking, lighting, seatbelts and the electrical system. The requirements are usually easy to incorporate into the blueprints, but they sometimes lead to difficult choices for Eco-marathon teams, says Claessen.

"We want our vehicle to be as aerodynamic as possible, in order to achieve good performance during the fuel efficiency contest,” he says. “But the RDW stipulates that the lights have to be fitted at least 50 centimetres above the ground, which makes the chassis rather high. Additionally, two headlights are required if the car reaches a certain width. To keep the width within that limit, we left our wheel arches uncovered. These design compromises will cost us kilometres in the contest."

Fast-paced innovation

The team from the Technical University of Eindhoven, TU/ecomotive, is also finding it a challenge to meet the regulations, according to team leader Tim Gerth. "It's a hefty list of rules that you have to comply with, and the devil is in the details. Little things that you normally never think about, like windscreen demisters, are mandatory for road cars."

The team of eight students hopes to turn up at the start of this year's Shell Eco-marathon Europe with a car approved for the open road.  Once the car has passed inspection,  the team plans to use it for promotional purposes, such as open days and exhibitions.

The RDW sponsors the teams, providing advice and carrying out inspections. "We support Shell Eco-marathon because it addresses issues that are important to us: innovation, safety, a better environment, and training engineers and designers of the future," said van Vliet.

He is also impressed by what the student teams have achieved so far. "They are bringing lots of people from various disciplines together, resulting in fast-paced technical innovation. As the RDW, we have to respond to this with new regulations. It is our challenge to facilitate these developments as well as we can, always considering safety and the environment."