Students from Asia Pacific and the Middle East have conquered the Luneta Park street in Manila, recording five new mileages along the street circuit of Shell Eco-marathon Asia. The ITS Team 2 from the Surabaya Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology managed to double the mileage secured by last year’s winner in the UrbanConcept Shell FuelSave Diesel category, with 152.7km/l. Meanwhile, the Batavia Generation team from the Jakarta State University secured third place in the Prototype Shell FuelSave Gasoline category, a travelled distance of 485.4km/l, or equivalent to the distance from Jakarta to Semara

This year, the Indonesian student teams outcompeted other teams in the UrbanConcept Shell FuelSave Diesel category, securing first, second, and third places. Securing second place in the UrbanConcept Shell FuelSave Diesel category is the Cikal Diesel team from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) with a travelled distance of 136.9km/l, and third place is the Bengawan 2 Team from the March Eleventh University (UNS) with a travelled distance of 99.2km/l.

Furthermore, in the UrbanConcept Shell FuelSave alternative fuel category, two Indonesian teams namely the Horas Mesin Team from the North Sumatra University (USU) secured second place using an ethanol-fuelled vehicle with a travelled distance of 134.7km/l; and the IST Akprind 1 Team from the AKPRIND Science and Technology Institute secured third place using an ethanol-fuelled vehicle, with a travelled distance of 89km/l.

“We are very proud of what has been achieved by Indonesian students in the competition. They have taken an extraordinary journey, from the selection period to becoming winning teams in Manila. The vehicles they designed with fuel efficiency in mind have catapulted Indonesia’s position among other nations. We must appreciate the spirit shown by our beloved students – those who managed to win and those who were not yet lucky enough to win the competition – since it showed that they care for future energy,” said Darwin Silalahi, Shell Indonesia President Director and Country Chairman. “Shell is very pleased to be able to support and motivate these young talents to share their knowledge and talents to help augment Indonesia’s sound reputation in this international competition,” added Darwin.

Rizaldy Hakim Ash Shiddieqy, the Manager of the ITS Team 2 , which is the SEM ASIA defending champion since 2011, said that “This achievement is the result of a solid teamwork, support from our lecturers who provide endless motivation and guidance. We found the circuit as the real challenge we had to face in SEM this year, since now there are paving lines, which required our driver to work hard to keep the vehicle stable in order to maximize fuel efficiency. We plan to further develop this Sapu Angin Diesel vehicle as we aim to improve our record travelled distance to 300 km/l."

The Horas Mesin Team from the North Sumatra University (USU) who secured second place in the UrbanConcept Shell FuelSave alternative fuel (ethanol) category also expressed their delight, “We have done our best and we’re grateful for what we achieved. Going forward, we plan to improve the machine on the existing vehicle, its steering power and its field control,” said Arie Matius Bangun, USU Horas Mesin Team Manager.

This year’s winners defeated more than 120 students’ teams from 17 countries in Asia and Middle East—including new teams of students from Australia, Bangladesh, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The participating teams create vehicles in one of the categories of Urban Concept or Prototype using one of the seven different energy types. The winners will be the team with the most miles using fuel which amount is equal to 1 kWh of electricity, 1 m3 of hydrogen or 1 liter of fuel. 

I’m proud to see more teams and countries joining the Shell Eco-Marathon family this year. It is very impressive to see new participating members from countries such as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bangladesh who have showed efforts and recorded results in their first year. I hope to see more new participants in the next competition,” said Norman Koch, Shell Eco-marathon Technical Director.

Six Off-Track Awards Presented to Best Students’ Teams

In addition to the On-Track awards, the teams also compete for six Off-Track awards, testing their various technical and creativity skills, as well as their approaches for safety and sustainability. A panel of experts from different fields evaluated the students in a number of categories including Safety, Communication, Technical Innovation, Vehicle Design, Perseverance and Spirit of the Event and the Shell Helix Tribology Award. The Shell Helix Tribology Award is an off-track award for students’ teams that show the use of lubrication engineering principals to improve their vehicle’s fuel efficiency.

The Perseverance and Spirit of the Event award is bestowed to the Alfaisal Team from the Alfaisal University of Saudi Arabia. They showed impressive perseverance even though they were late to receive their car in the circuit. Despite losing precious time, they did not hesitate to share fuel and resources for other teams. They also donated their back-up engine for the competing Philippines team when their engine suddenly broke.

Shell Eco-Marathon is about inspiring young generation in creating a solution for the future. This innovation will help us to see smart mobility and explore new types of sustainable fuel.

Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2015 On-Track Awards Winners List

Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2015 Off-Track Awards Winners List

The Shell Eco-marathon 2015 is held in partnership with the Philippine Government Department of Tourism and the City of Manila. Its Global Partners include HP (Official Global Information Technology (IT) Partner), Michelin (Official Global Paddock Partner and Tire Supplier), The Linde Group (Official Global Paddock Partner) and Southwest Research Institute (Official Global Paddock Partner). Local private sector partners are Unilever Philippines, Solane, Coca-Cola, Globe and Hyundai.

For more information on all Shell Eco-marathon events across the globe, including official rules, instructions for registration and details on prizes, please visit the Shell Eco-marathon website at www.shell.com/ecomarathon.

About Shell Eco-marathon

Shell Eco-marathon began in 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the United States as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicle. The winner of that contest barely achieved 50 mpg (21 km/l), and from these humble origins, a more organized competition evolved.

In 1985 in France, Shell Eco-marathon as we know it today was born. In April 2007, the Shell Eco-marathon Americas event was launched in the United States, and in 2010, the inaugural Shell Eco-marathon Asia was held in Malaysia. Malaysia hosted Shell Eco-Marathon Asia until 2013. Since 2014, the event is being held in Manila, Philippines, which will continue to host the event until 2016.