5,000 kilometres on one litre of petrol
These are tomorrow’s fuel-efficient vehicles. In late May, they will compete in fuel efficiency in Germany. These are the arguments of the two student teams from KTH, who will travel down to Germany to defend the university’s honour.
How do you think differently to minimize fuel consumption? Two student teams from KTH have the answers, and will present them in the form of two vehicles which they will compete with against other teams from around the world on a race track in Lausitz in German on 26 May.
The two KTH teams will participate in the competition in two separate classes where they will show completely different solutions to how it is possible to minimize future fuel consumption with the use of technology, choice of materials and smart constructions.
The first vehicle is called Sleipner. Sleipner is completely new for this year and competes in a prototype class that means that you have to travel as far as possible on a given amount of fuel. The chassis will be manufactured in aluminium and the body in PET to be as recyclable as possible. Thanks to its design and carefully selected materials, the car will weigh about 25 kilos and be extremely fuel-efficient. This year’s goal will be to aim for the podium in the Shell Eco Marathon, which means that the car must travel about 5,000 kilometres on just one litre of petrol.
The other vehicle which is called Spiros has competed before. Spiros competes in a class where the car has to be similar to today’s cars and powered by hydrogen. This year the team will go for a new technology which will contribute positively to the environment. The driver is provided with suggestions of the most fuel efficient route around obstacles and through the curves and slopes with the help of the car’s computer. We hope that the newcomer will win the competition’s prestigious award for technological innovation. Hydrogen operation also places great demands on the safety system, a challenge the team has adopted and is therefore also looking for this year’s award for the best safety system in the class.
For more information, contact Jonas Severin (Sleipner) 070-732 37 62 /n jonasse@kth.se or Christina Nicolaou (Spiros) on 070-985 11 11 / nicolaou@kth.se.
Peter Larsson