Leaner, Greener and Cleaner

Check the tech

On February 25, a day before the start of Shell Eco-marathon Asia, after the teams arrived and registered, they went on to their allocated pit area to put their cars together. To ensure safety and fairness, Shell Eco-marathon has certain basic requirements that all teams must meet. Vehicle dimensions, weight, turning radius, visibility, safety harness, dual independent braking systems, a sub-10 second exit time, and various other parameters are measured according to the rules and guidelines set up in the three decades this event has been running. This technical inspection is known to be the part of Shell Eco-marathon that students dread. A lot of universities that include the competition in the curriculum of the students who participate, consider clearing the technical inspection a ‘pass’ grade. The technical inspection is a tough test where every minute aspect of the car is checked and recorded.This is required since students are known to find innovative interpretations and loopholes in the rules. A few years ago, there was a team that took advantage of a particularly windy day and erected a sail on their car. Try as they might, the race stewards and directors couldn’t find any rules or suggestions that didn’t allow a sail and had to let it run. Shell, though, is more concerned with ensuring that everyone out on the track is safe. And historically, most teams fail the safety harness and brake test. But all teams are allowed as many attempts as they can manage to clear technical inspection.

The Kencana Hidrogen UKM, #202, Prototype, competing for team UKM 2 Car Fuel Cell from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia passes through one of the inspection stages during day one of the Shell Eco-marathon in Manila, Philippines.

A participant carries a car canopy through the paddocks during day two of the Shell Eco-marathon.

The Riyadh1, #42, Prototype, competing for team KSUEcoCar from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia goes through Technical Inspection during day three of the Shell Eco-marathon.

Take a quick tour of the technical inspection area -

Running the marathon

Once teams clear technical inspection, they're given time and fuel to run a few practice laps on the track. After the flag-off though, the track is only open for competitive runs. Teams were allowed a maximum of five attempts to complete their competitive runs and the best of these attempts was used to calculate their mileage. It is important to remember that these cars are built by students, so they lack the refinements we are used to in regular vehicles. No air-conditioning, sealed windows, no comfortable seats and most of the cars don't even have shock absorbers. For safety reasons, the driver has to wear a flame retardant racing suit complete with gloves and a crash helmet. Bottom line, the experience, despite the low speeds, is intensely hot, cramped, and thanks to the street circuit, very bumpy. In some cases, driverseven lose up to a kilogram in body weight every time they go out on track. But far from getting bogged down with the conditions, the students couldn't wait to get their cars out on track.

Off-track action

Even if you weren't participating in Shell Eco-marathon, there was plenty to do at the venue. A large fan zone had been set up with a number of cool, interactive exhibits that engaged and educated visitors of all ages. Each visitor was given an RFID card with a unique code which they could tap at any exhibit and create a record of their time at Shell Eco-marathon. They could also collect e-souvenirs which they could check once back at home with the unique code on their RFID tag. But there were a few things that really got all visitors excited. The salt-water car race where visitors were provided kits to assemble their own cars which would generate power from salt water! Then there was the quiz where teams would answer questions by walking onto an area of the floor lit up with the option of their choice. Incredibly popular was also the Coca-cola machine that dispensed a bottle of Coke every time someone would hug it. The line for this one was really long. The only way they could make it cuter was if it had doors that were programmed to sound happy every time they opened and shut. Always occupied, understandably, was the dance floor that generated energy when people danced on it. Another area that received massive participation was the 'design your own energy efficient car' section. Visitors simply had to sketch out an interesting concept on a post-it and attach it to a wall. The ideas ranged from cool and clever to amazingly out-of-the-world and even downright weird. The fan zone could have been considered 'nerdy' but the long queue of visitors waiting to get in proved that science is super interesting.

Children interact with exhibits in the Shell Visitor Experience on day two of the Shell Eco-marathon.

Visitors participate in one of the interactive exhibits at the Experience during day two of the Shell Eco-marathon.

Visitors post 'ideas' on an interactive wall at the 'Experience' during day four of the Shell Eco-marathon.

Making their mark

Initially, 17 Indian teams from various universities were participating in the Shell Eco-marathon Asia. Only 11 actually made it to Manila. For a country that's obsessed with mileage, the support for these engineering students, who are working on making cars more efficient, is surprisingly limited. Some did manage to find enough sponsors but for most, this was the biggest hurdle. A few teams even made it without any sponsors except their college. Norman Koch, Global Technical Director, Shell Eco-marathon, said that a lack of resources was the main reason holding back capable and creative Indian students. Despite facing massive challenges, e.g. one team regularly travelled eight hours from college to the nearest city to source parts; the Indian students never gave up. Though almost all teams cleared technical inspection, only one made it with enough time left to make their competitive runs. Team ETA, from KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai achieved fifth place in Prototype Petrol (Gasoline) category. Their car managed an equivalent of 152.6 km per litre. The winners of that category, team ATE.1 from Khong Thabbok Upatham Changkol Kho So Tho Bo School, Thailand, achieved the equivalent of 1490.2km per litre. And the Indian teams, despite all their hurdles, showed a lot ofheart. They’ve already started planning on how they’ll definitely be back on the track next year. Who knows, they may even find a few sponsors.

The GREENPANTHOR, #541, UrbanConcept, competing for team AITHONS from M.N.M Jain Engineering College, India goes through technical inspection during day three of the Shell Eco-marathon.

The FT-01, #16, Prototype, competing for team Go Viridis from Government Engineering College Barton Hill, India in the paddock during day three of the Shell Eco-marathon.

The THE STALLION, #514, UrbanConcept, competing for team FUTURAMIC from Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, India on the track during day four of the Shell Eco-marathon.

Make it or break it!

Shell Eco-marathon, despite being a lot of fun, is a serious event. The turnout, the quality of the cars built, the innovations and the way these innovations have been applied, is truly mind-boggling. One of the best things is that Shell does not claim ownership of any of the innovations the students develop. They only provide the platform. And what a platform it is. Sure, this mileage challenge gives Shell fantastic brand mileage, their effort to create a more energy efficient future will earn them goodwill, and this event brings a large potential talent pool for Shell under one roof.But there’s more. Our way of life is slowly turning the planet into a place that may soon not be able to sustain us. So, any effort to enhance efficiency, to create a sustainable future must be championed. Shell Eco-marathon is an event focussed on the future. A future that’s leaner, cleaner and greener.

Final results for Shell Eco-marathon Asia, 2015 are available here.