Thai econohunk
Thailand took top honours at the inaugural Shell Ecomarathon Asia held to answer the call for smarter mobility at the Sepang F1 circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
It is estimated that some 2 billion vehicles will be rolling out of showrooms onto the tarmac by 2030, of which 92 million will be leaving their carbon footprint in Southeast Asia.
The Shell Ecomarathon is an annual competition that challenges students to design, build and drive a vehicle that can travel furthest on the least amount of fuel.
‘Say cheese.’
The event, which drew 81 teams, was held in Asia for the first time. It is now a truly global event which has been held in Europe since 1985 and the US since 2007.
Pissawan Achanapornkul, country chairperson of Shell (Thailand) said: "We saw great things in intelligent automobile design and innovative alternative fuel sources along with safety driving.
"The Thai teams were impressive since nine out of 13 were able to run complete laps on the track. We also saw the spirit and determination students who were able to freely exchange ideas and perspectives on alternative fuels."
The Army Transportation Engineering School (ATE-1) literally swept the competition in the prototype category to clinch the "Combustion Grand and Gasoline Fuel" prize with a return of 1,521.9kpl.
The ATE-1 team consisted of vocational students Kittiwong Kaewbumrung, Nopparat Khunjuang, Taentai Jittakram, Jirapong Naiburus (manager), Siriporn Lapnum and Phoodit Rod-in.
Japan's Hyogo Prefectural Tajima Technical Institute (HPTTI) and China's Tongji University placed second and third respectively in the same category.
HPTTI's mark of 1,235.1 kpl appeared unbeatable until ATE-1's fifth lap around the Sepang circuit turned in 1,521.9kpl, enough to cover the distance between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. The Thai team's mark even surpassed the previous record of 1,057.5kpl set in Texas, the US.
‘It’s no ordinary racecar.’
Shane Luchai, president of Michelin Siam, said this event promotes sustainable mobility which is important at a time when fossil fuels are getting scarcer.
The "Urban Concept" category was won by a team from the National University of Singapore using hydrogen fuel which turned in 612.4kpl.
The grand prize for "Fuel Cell" went to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia which ran on hydrogen fuel returning 598.8kpl; Nanyang Technological University of Singapore won for "Solar Energy" by posting 316kpl; and the "Diesel Fuel" award was won by Singapore's Institute of Technical Education with 93.7kpl.
Regis Jeandenand, Asia-Pacific Motorsports manager who was at the Michelin tent providing technical support said:
"The philosophy of Michelin is not to just supply tyres and service at F1 events, but also at equally important events such as the Shell Ecomarathon."
Muhamad Ikhlaq Khalid of the wheelers team from Pakistan represented by the College of EME of the National University of Science and Technology said:
"The idea is to make something good for Pakistan. We have a hybrid design, small engine, super capacitor and 1,000-volt electric motors and currently running at 250kpl. For my final-year engineering students, this is a culmination of their studies. Unfortunately our vehicle was damaged after almost two months of sea travel."
Hariraldi, coach of the Dazzing team from Universitas Indonesia said that his team pooled up US$20,000 from sponsors to field three vehicles.
"We learned a lot, especially about safety. We will definitely come back next year. The technical requirements were very strict [of the 81 teams, only 16 teams passed inspection on the first day]. But we finished among the top-five in the design category."
Malaysia's UKM Car 2 team used a 100cc Honda Wave motorcycle engine which ran on LPG (liquid petroleum gas).
Graduate student Meysam Mehrabi from Iran who is attending the National University of Malaysia said:
"I hope we win, but other teams use a 35cc engine while ours is a 100cc motorcycle engine. We managed to record 78kpl."
For awards in the "Safety" category, the winners were selected based on safety features of their vehicles and the way they practiced safety in their work areas.
In addition to three safety awards, judges also gave special recognition to Malaysia's Team Piston 1 of the University of Malaysia and Philippines Team Grigio of Don Bosco Technical College for demonstrating safety compliance during the three-day competition.
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