Indonesia, Thailand dominate Shell Eco-Marathon Asia

MANILA, Philippines – Indonesia and Thailand swept the awards by winning four and three champion titles, respectively, to rule the first ever Shell Eco-Marathon Asia at the Quirino Grand Stand from February 7-9.

The two countries were among the 15 nations from Asia and the Middle East that competed in this year’s event. There were a total of 105 student teams that submitted vehicle entries in either the Urban Concept of Prototype category in any of the seven different energy types. Each team will be given 1 liter of fuel or 1 kWh and results will be measured on who can drive the farthest.

The Indonesian student teams  were able to take home four Urban Concept Awards – University of Sumatera Utara for Urban Concept Ethanol, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember for Urban Concept FAME, Politeknik Negiri Pontianak for Urban Concept Diesel and University of Sumatera Utara for Urban Concept Ethanol.

The highest mileage at this year’s competition was held by Team How Much Ethanol from Panjavidhya Technological College Thailand, which drove 2,730km on a liter of ethanol. Fellow Thai teams, Sakon Nakhon Technical College and Rattakanakosin Technological College also bagged major awards in Prototype Gasoline category and Prototype Battery Electric category, respectively.

Out of 12 categories, five records have been broken in this year’s event. New best scores were recorded for Prototye Gasoline by Sakon Nakhon Technical College at 1,796km/l, Urban Concept Gasoline by Universitas Indonesia at 301.7km/l, Prototype Diesel by China’s Tongji University at 616km/l, Concept Battery Electric by  Technical Education Singapore at 126.3km/l and Urban Concept Diesel by Indonesia’s Politeknik Negeri Pontianak at 70.3km/l.

Malaysia rounded up the winners circle by with the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UITM) Shah Alam taking two awards in the Urban Concept and Prototype category for Hydrogen.

Hometown favorites the De La Salle University’s Eco Car Team Electric was able to bag second place in the Urban Concept – Battery Electric category with a consumption rating of 66.38 km/kWH.

In addition to the 12 On-Track awards, there were six Off-Track awards that were handed out based from the team’s technical and creative skills, as well as their approach to safety and sustainability. These awards were Safety, Communications, Technical Innovation, Vehicle Design, Spirit of the Event and the Shell Helix Tribology.

The Green Archers was able to show their local hospitality by helping out Team Eco-Warriors from the Madras Institute of Technology in India when their car got stuck at the customs office in Singapore just a few days before the competition and this made them win the “Spirit of the Event” award.

The other Off-Track winners NTU Diesel Car Racing Team of Nangyang Technological University in Singapore for Best Vehicle Design, Best Safety and Best Technical Innovation, PNEC Nust Prototype of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Karachi from Pakistan for Communications award and Team Monash 2 from Monash University from Malaysia getting the Shell Helix Tribology.

Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2014 was held partnership with the Philippine Government, especially the Department of Tourism, Department of Energy and the City of Manila. Its global partners include HP (Official Global Information Technology 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 Solane, Coca-Cola, Globe, Lego, Hyundai and Unilever Philippines.