Following our first valid trial we all were incredibly satisfied, but the excessive lap made us hunger for more. We all knew we had a much better result within our grasp.
The prototype class trials were not scheduled to begin until late in the afternoon, which allowed some of us to explore the city a bit more. Some of our chemical engineering students had the chance to visit Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen where they got to see works by great Dutch artists such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh. A nice change of pace from the technical work at the padock.
Back at the Ahoy some minor technical adjustments were made before we once again set out to do more trials. The first trial of the day was done in the exact same fashion as the one the day before, but with the correct amount of laps. Of course this generated an improved result, which amounted to 135 km travelled per kWh of energy.
The final trial of the day we tried out a new style of driving which, in theory, was supposed to lower our hydrogen consumption further. In reality it did not turn out to the better, probably due to circumstantial factors. Of course this is something that we will investigate further when we get home, but it taught us the important lesson that theory does not always agree with reality.
In the evening most of us went out to celebrate and explore Rotterdams nightlife. Some students visited the ”party lab” at Ahoy which Shell arranged. We all had a very pleasant evening and night, but in the back of our minds, the final trial the following morning was lurking.
