Road to success with UCL at the Shell Eco-marathon

Green Motion is pleased to announce the return of our sponsorship of University College London (UCL) students’ Shell Eco-marathon entry.

Last year was the first of our three-year sponsorship of UCL’s team of mechanical engineering students (Team Hydrone) and it was certainly an eventful start. This year, we’re back with a podium place in our sights.

What is the Shell Eco-Marathon?

The Shell Eco-marathon is an innovative competition that challenges students from around the world to make their own ultra-energy-efficient vehicles. This year, the annual event is taking place in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park between July 5th and 8th.

Teams design and build either a hydrogen, battery electric or internal combustion engine vehicle and test it on the track against others to see whose can travel farthest using the least amount of energy. The event showcases the latest energy efficient technology and inspires young engineers to develop cleaner technologies for the environment.

Green Motion agreed to sponsor the team after learning about their impressive achievements and commitment to producing racing vehicles with low emissions and low energy use.

What happened at the 2017 Shell Eco-marathon?

At the 2017 event, UCL’s vehicle was the only UK entry to pass the strict series of technical and safety inspection tests. The vehicle was even used on advertisements on the front page of the Evening Standard and London underground.

Despite promising runs, on the 8th lap of 10 a tyre burst after running over debris from a crash earlier in the day, meaning that the team was unable to finish their final lap. Read more about the 2017 happenings here.

University College London and Green Motion

Of the six categories at the Shell Eco-marathon, UCL students will compete in the Hydrogen Prototype Division, the same as last year. The Prototype division allows students to enter futuristic, streamlined vehicles designed purely to reduce friction and maximise efficiency.

The UCL racing team has been working extremely hard and, to help in the quest for a podium finish, we have provided technical and industry support for the students as well as financial backing to help improve the entry vehicle.

Adjustments to the vehicle include redesigning a streamlined powertrain system, implementing an electrical testing that has allowed us to simulate a run of the track on the powertrain system and creating a telemetry system to log data from the vehicle.

Fingers are crossed that the work gone into this year’s entry is rewarded. Green Motion will be in attendance to show support to the students at the event.