Bangkok--21 Mar--Hill & Knowlton
- Team HOW MUCH ETHANOL from Panjavidhya Technological College, Thailand, clinched first place in the Prototype Alternative Fuel category, ethanol fuel type, with a mileage of 2,040km/l– approximate equivalent distance between Bangkok and Manila, making it the best mileage for this year's competition.
- Team NSTRU Eco-Racing from Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University, Thailand, won first place in the Prototype Alternative Fuel category, battery-electric type, and also took home an off-track award for Vehicle Design.
- Five UrbanConcept teams have qualified for the Drivers' World Championship, to be held at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London later this year.
- Thai student team, together with four other teams from Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia, was able to set a new mileage record and outperformed 117 student teams from 17 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Australia.
Student teams from Thailand won first place in two races at Shell Eco-marathon Asia this year, in which 117 student teams participated from 17 countries. The competition was held at Luneta Park in Manila. Student teams submitted vehicle entries in either the Urban Concept or Prototype category. Results are measured on who can drive the furthest on the equivalent of 1 litre of fuel.
Thai student teams win four awards—two first-place and one second-place award in the Prototype category, as well as one first-place off-track award for Vehicle Design
Team HOW MUCH ETHANOL from Panjavidhya Technological College, Thailand clinched first place in the Prototype Alternative Fuel category, ethanol fuel type, with a mileage of 2,040km/l—the approximate equivalent distance between Bangkok and Manila—making it the best overall mileage for in this year's competition. Team Luk Jao Mae Khlong Prapa from Dhurakij Pundit University won second place in the Prototype, ethanol fuel type, with a mileage of 710.8 km./l.
Meanwhile, Team NSTRU Eco-Racing from Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University, Thailand, won first place in the Prototype Alternative Fuel category, using electric-battery energy, and also took home an off-track award for Vehicle Design.
"We are so happy and thrilled to have won. We have been working in this vehicle for three years. We were 100% confident going into this competition and knew we would win. We were the previous champions in 2014, and we think our winning feature is due to our variable valve timing. We made many friends here from different countries although we don't speak English, so we are very happy." said Jutarat Bunrak, team member, HOW MUCH ETHANOL.
Five Urban Concept teams have qualified for the Drivers' World Championship, to be held at in London this year.
This year will see the most significant change to Shell Eco-marathon since the competition began 30 years ago, with the introduction of the Drivers' World Championship. Drivers will go head-to-head in a traditional racing car format whilst maintaining the need to drive efficiently, at the end of which the winning team will earn an invite to spend one week with Scuderia Ferrari at their factory in Maranello, Italy. Once in Maranello, they will meet the Ferarri team and receive personal coaching and advice from the engineers on how they can improve their car for the 2017 Shell Eco-marathon.
Based on this year's results, four UrbanConcept teams have qualified for the Drivers' World Championship, to be held at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London later this year.
Qualified teams include three teams from Indonesia, Team Sadewa from Universitas Indonesia, ITS Team 2 from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, and Team BUMI SILIWANGI TEAM 4 from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Additionally, DLSU Eco Car Team - Battery Electric from De La Salle University in Philippines also qualified to compete at the Drivers' World Championship. Team NTU 3D-Printed Car from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has also been invited to compete at the event as a wildcard entrant.
"The Shell Eco-marathon Drivers' World Championship Race marks an important step in the evolution of Shell Eco-marathon and the global drive for energy efficiency, challenging the students to push further than they have before," said Norman Koch, Shell Eco-marathon Global Technical Director. "I'm extremely excited to see five teams from Shell Eco-marathon Asia clock strong mileage results in order to qualify for the Drivers' World Championship at Make The Future London, and I look forward to seeing them compete against the best in the world."
Four teams who set new mileage records are from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand
Team Sadewa from Universitas Indonesia more than doubled last year's winning result and recorded 275km/l in the UrbanConcept Shell FuelSave Gasoline category. Other teams that have achieved new mileage records include Clean Diesel Team from Japan, who outperformed their previous record with a recorded mileage of 1,424km/l in their Prototype vehicle on ethanol. Team UiTM Eco-Sprint from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam Malaysia also improved upon their previous winning result from last year to champion the Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category again with a record mileage of 476 km/m3. Finally, Team HOW MUCH ETHANOL from Panjavidhya Technological College, Thailand, also beat their own record from last year in the Prototype Alternative Fuel category with a new mileage record of 2,040km/l.
Five off-track awards presented to outstanding student teams
In addition to the 24 On-Track awards, teams also competed for five Off-Track Awards in a variety of categories that covered Communications, Vehicle Design, Technical Innovation, Safety, and Perseverance and Spirit of the Event. Team NSTRU Eco-Racing from Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University, Thailand, won first prize for Vehicle Design.
Overview of Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2016 winners