Tien Thanh
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Go-carts: Teams get ready for a run at the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2010, which began on Wednesday at the Sepang F1 Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. — VNA/VNS Photo Tien Thanh |
KUALA LUMPUR — Space-age vehicles of all shapes and sizes lined up at Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday for the Shell Eco-marathon.
Eighty-two teams from mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand put their eco-friendly designs through their paces to see which can get the most milage from a litre of fuel.
The superlight and aerodynamic vehicles can use any kinds of fuel such as ethanol, gasoline, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), solar, fatty acid methyl ester and diesel.
The goal is to use as little fuel as possible over a set distance. Winning entries will be capable of travelling extraordinary distances on just one litre of fuel.
"The principle of Shell Eco-marathon is simple: design, build and drive a vehicle that travels the farthest distance using the least amount of fuel and producing the least emissions.
"The goal is not to break speed records or be the first to finish; it is to consume as little fuel as possible over a set distance," Tan Chong Meng Executive Vice President (EVP) of Shell said at the flag-off.
There are two competing categories – futuristic prototypes (no holds-barred streamlined vehicles) and more realistic "Urban Concept" cars which can run on a wide range of fuels from gasoline to gas to liquids, from hydrogen and liquefied petroleum gas to ethanol and solar energy.
Pakistan has the most entries with 20 participating teams, followed by hosts Malaysia with 19 teams and Thailand 13 teams.
Unfortunately, Viet Nam's only registered team, BK-CAR from the Ha Noi University of Technology, had last minute problems and could not take part.
The Shell Eco-marathon began in 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the United States. It started as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicles.
The Shell Eco-marathon in its current form began in 1985 in France, attracting thousands of young engineers and scientists from 20 European countries. The Shell Eco-marathon Americas was first held at the California Speedway in 2007.
The competition's current record of nearly 4,900km set by a French team this year.
University teams the competition said the event was a great platform for students across Asia to develop themselves.
"Shell Eco-marathon is a very good platform for learning not just engineering skills like doing computer designs and fabrication but also teamwork, leadership, project management skills and apply what we learned," Tan Bor Yow, the captain of the NUS Urban Concept, a team from the National University of Singapore (NUS), said.
When the NUS Urban Concept team participated in the Shell Eco-marathon Europe, they built a vehicle to suit cold conditions. They had to adapt that design to suit the hot conditions in Malaysia this year, Yow said.
Faizan Zafar, from Pakistani Pak Wheelers team of the National University of Sciences and Technologies, said his team had learned a lot of thing from the event including how to apply for funding from local companies, work together and project management.
"Our vehicle doesn't look like a real car now but it is the first step for students to learn about automotive engineering and how they can actually proceed from there to build a proper car in future. It is a good learning experience," Yow said.
Yow's team competed in the prototype category the first time they competed in Europe in 2007 but this year they entered the Urban Car category.
"Urban Car is more relevant, with similarities to vehicles on today's roads. It may not be able to run on streets in Singapore but the likeness is there," Yow explained. — VNS