Thai teams sweep awards at Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2011; set new fuel efficiency record

Students from Thailand and Singapore stretched the boundaries of fuel efficiency further and have set two new records at Shell Eco-marathon Asia, held at the Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Thai team Luk Jao Mae Khlong Prapa emerged winner under the Prototype Category,
despite being newcomers to the competition.  They set a new record of 2,213.4 kilometers on a litre of fuel, enough to drive from Kuala Lumpur to Chang Mai in northern Thailand.

This is even further than last year’s record - 1,521.9 km/l – which could take them from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok.

Last year’s winner, another Thai team, Kang Thabbok Upatham Changkol Kho So Tho Bo School also did better, also improved their showing, chalking up 1,607.9 km/l.

“We are really happy with the results, and we are really proud to join this competition. We will bring the experience from this event with us into the future,” says Luk Jao Mae Khlong Prapa Team Manager Narongdech Keeratipranon.

Singapore’s NP-Distanza Proto, from the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, also set a new record of 84.9 km/kWh with a prototype hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

"It has been an honour to participate in this regional competition. It has been a great opportunity for Ngee Ann Polytechnic - this is not something most ordinary schools can come up with. We are proud to be in this team and are grateful for the exposure," says team driver Pay Chin Koon of Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Another highlight of the E-mobility class – introduced this year – was the Malaysian team from the UTM International Campus, clean vehicle team, with 390.4 km/kWh.

In the Urban Concept Category, Indonesian Team Mesin ITS4’s internal combustion entry, running on FAME (fatty acid methyl ester), garnered the best efficiency performance with a distance of 149.8 kilometres/litre.

Commenting on the new Asian records, Norman Koch, Shell Eco-marathon Technical Director says: “What struck me different is that the design of the cars this year has remarkably improved. We are seeing a lot more reliability, teams being able to get more immediately on the track, not having to do quite so many reviews which comes through experience… but you can see the year on year improvement is dramatic , and you can only expect to improve that next year as well.”

Following its debut event last year, Shell Eco-marathon Asia has attracted more participants, with 93 teams from 12 countries, including new entrants Brunei Darussalam, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam.

Shell hosted the 27th edition of the Shell Eco-marathon in Europe this year, and in 2007 it was brought to Americas with much success. Bringing the competition to Asia helps make this programme a true global initiative for Shell.

The annual competition challenges students to design, build and drive a vehicle that can travel the furthest distance on the least amount of fuel.

Student teams participated in either the Prototype or UrbanConcept categories. For the Prototype category, teams entered futuristic prototypes – streamlined vehicles focused on maximizing fuel efficiency through innovative design elements, such as drag reduction.

For the UrbanConcept category, teams entered more "roadworthy" fuel-efficient vehicles. Aimed at meeting the real-life needs of drivers, these vehicles are closer in appearance to the cars seen on roads today. 

For both categories, teams can enter vehicles using internal combustion engines running on fuels such as conventional diesel and gasoline or biofuels, as well as alternative and “e-mobility” energy sources such as solar, hydrogen and plug-in electricity.

Shell Eco-marathon offers a platform for the youth to develop new approaches to smarter to mobility, giving them a sense of real life challenges on project management.

To complement the On-Track Awards, students were also recognized on the off-track aspects of Safety, Technical Innovation, Communications and Design. Rozano Saad, Managing Director of Shell Refining Co. in Malaysia headed the team of judges comprised of representatives from event sponsors SKF, Southwest Research Institute and The Society of Engineers Malaysia.

The Off-Track Award winners are as follows: Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University for Safety, Indonesia’s Universitas Gadjah Mada for Technical Innovation and Institut Teknologi Bandung Team Rakata for Communications; and National University of Singapore Urban Concept for Design. First-timer National Kaoshiung University of Applied Sciences from Chinese Taipei bagged the People’s Choice Award.

The Thais also repeated their feat of scoring a double win at both the Shell Eco-marathon Asia contest and the Shell 1 Litre FuelSave Challenge, a contest in which everyday motorists seek to go furthest distance on a litre of fuel in a typical car, held alongside the event for students.

A Thai team beat drivers from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines to become Asia’s top Shell FuelSave Team with a combined average distance of 15.952 km/litre.

Each of the five Shell FuelSave Teams attended Shell Eco-marathon in Kuala Lumpur to receive training from a team of fuel economy experts, including Guinness World Record holders, John and Helen Taylor. The training was designed to turn them from fuel spenders into expert fuel savers. Their new skills were then put to the ultimate test in a head to head driving challenge to see who could travel the furthest on a single litre of Shell FuelSave Unleaded.

“I think the competition is outstanding. People ask me what’s different about the event but what’s exciting is what’s common – the passion the spirit the innovation the quality of the teams.

“We have to remember that these are the young people who will replace us in the workforce in the generations to come and so what’s different is finding more and more students involved in finding solutions we may never have come up with during our lifetime,“ says Mark Singer, global manager for the Shell Eco-marathon.

For more information on the Shell Eco-marathon, please visit  www.shell.com/ecomarathon.

Contacts:
 
Warren Fernandez
Regional Manager (Asia Pacific)
Group Communications Strategy    
Mobile +65-97248587 
Email: warren.fernandez@shell.com
 
Peing Tajang
Media Relations and Corp.Comm. Manager
Shell Malaysia Ltd.
Mobile +6012-8043199
Email : peing.tajang@shell.com