A panel of Shell judges has selected the Grand Prize Winner of the DRIVEN car design competition: the LM Urban Pod car from Paulo Encarnação is designed to help tackle the challenges of congestion in São Paulo, Brazil.
The LM Urban Pod has received a total of $7,000. Shell’s GameChanger team will turn the design into a 1/4 scale model and showcase it at events around the world.
It was chosen from five winning cars, each designed to overcome a mobility challenge in a selected city where Shell has a technology centre or a major project: Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Bangalore, India; Basra, Iraq; Houston, USA; and São Paulo, Brazil.
Members of the Local Motors online community www.local-motors.com - opens in new window voted to choose the best design in each city for a prize of $2,000.
The competition was launched in January 2012 by Shell’s GameChanger team and US car firm Local Motors. Its focus on the design of relevant and innovative vehicles for energy needs gives it the acronym DRIVEN.
The competition closed in February, with over 170 entries. Each unique design included locally available energy sources and construction materials.
The number of cars on the road is expected to triple by 2050 and trucking activities double. At Shell we are finding innovative ways to help meet this growing demand while limiting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Our approach, known as smarter mobility, includes developing more energy-efficient fuels and lubricants, investing in lower carbon alternatives, offering drivers fuel-saving tips and helping reduce CO2 emissions from road-building.
Shell’s GameChanger programme encourages inventors and innovators within and outside of Shell to come up with creative ideas to energy-related challenges. It chooses the best and provides funding and technical expertise to help turn them into commercial reality.
This competition is expected to help spark ideas around how to meet future mobility challenges.
