They will take the Swedish record from Chalmers
In 2006, the KTH vehicle Agilis participated in a European competition called the Shell Eco Marathon and drove 500 km on one litre of petrol. By doing this, KTH set the Swedish record. Chalmers’ contribution in 2009 was called – Eco Vera - and they succeeded in driving 1,143 km on one litre and thereby succeeded in taking the Swedish record from KTH.
“We want it back,” says Lovisa Stjernlöf.
She is in her fourth year studying design and product development specialising in machine construction KTH, and she is one of 17 individuals who this year are working round the clock to ensure that the Agilis will perform better than ever.
The Agilis is competing in the Shell Eco Marathon’s Prototype class whereby the objective of the vehicle is to transport one person as far as possible on 1 litre of petrol. The competition starts in the German town of Laustiz in May this year, and the Agilis will be meeting tough competition from 200 other European teams.
“Our objective is that the vehicle will be able to drive them back and forth between Treriksröset and Smygehuk. This is a distance of 3,142 km, more than twice as long as the Swedish record held by Chalmers of last year,” says Lovisa Stjernlöf.
Two different engines will help them. One of them is a Honda engine which KTH has invested heavily in, and the other is a so-called HCCI engine.
“The HCCI engine has a high economy ratio at low loads, as opposed to the Otto engines. If an HCCI engine was used instead of the normal petrol engine in a car, petrol consumption would be almost halved,” Lovisa Stjernlöf explains.
The engines in general make up the greatest challenge for the Agilis group.
“It is extremely important to get the engines to work as efficiently as possible. This will ensure that we can achieve a fantastic result,” says Lovisa Stjernlöf.
What would you like to say to the people at Chalmers?
“They better watch out, we are raring to go and we want to break the Swedish record!”
For more information, contact Lovisa Stjernlöf at 073-557 68 69 or lstj@kth.se.
Peter Larsson