Shell Eco-marathon Asia, held for the first time in Singapore from March 16-19, attracted more than 120 teams from 20 countries to compete in UrbanConcept and Prototype categories. The event is part of a global competition challenging students’ innovativeness and creativeness and requiring them to design and construct the most energy-efficient vehicles.
Participating for the first time in the battery electric UrbanConcept vehicle racing, LH-EST’s vehicle excellently topped the Battery Electric–UrbanConcept category with the results of 107.8 km/kWh, followed closely by runner-up Dagisik UP from the University of the Philippines Diliman with 106.6 km/kWh.
This is the third consecutive year Lac Hong University held the No. 1 spot in the UrbanConcept category of this contest.
In the Prototype-Gasoline category, the fiercely competitive stage with the most teams participating, the HaUI AUTO Team of the Hanoi University of Industry came in fifth with the achievement of 783km/litre of gasoline. In sixth place was another team from Vietnam, the CKD.FA team of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, with a record of 766 km/litre of gasoline.
LH-EST team leader Le Phuong Long said that teams participating in this year’s competition were stronger than in previous years, not only in terms of vehicle improvement but also in terms of technical design and form. In addition, this year's race was particularly challenging with many bends so the team did not think they could win. The result has been driving the team a lot to improve their product in technical, creative and driving factors.
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The LH-Green Energy, a battery electric UrbanConcept vehicle racing for the LH-EST team from Lac Hong University. (Credit: Shell)
Vietnam sent nine teams from seven universities and colleges to participate in the Shell Eco-marathon 2017. The winning result was measured by the farthest driving distance equivalent to 1 kWh of electricity or 1 litre of fuel.
Tran Hong Van, General Director of Shell Vietnam, commented that the achievements of the Vietnamese team demonstrated the creative capacity of Vietnamese youngsters regarding future energy towards a less carbon-intensive direction.
Vietnam has achieved high rankings in the previous Shell Eco-marathon seasons, typically LH-Gold Energy team from Lac Hong University claimed first place in UrbanConcept–Alternative Fuel category for two consecutive times in 2015 and 2016; CKD-MIN10 team from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education won third prize of UrbanConcept – Gasoline category in 2016; and HaIU AUTO team of Hanoi University of Industry taking third place in Prototype – Gasoline category in 2016.
First organised in France three decades ago, the event since then has taken place in Asia, Europe and Americas.
