Members of the Eco-Car team showed off their vehicles to media Thursday.
(Edmonton) A team of University of Alberta students have unveiled a new zero-emissions vehicle they designed and built for the Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition in the U.S.
The U of A Eco Car team took first place last year with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle they designed and built for the Urban Concept category. This year, the students are doubling down on their efforts with a second vehicle, being entered in the experimental "Prototype" category.
"We learned a lot about Prototype vehicles from other teams last year-what worked and what didn't-and we wanted to design and build one of our own so we can further improve our vehicles," said Natasha Pye, a second-year engineering physics student and one of the team leaders.
Pye says the lessons the team learns by experimenting and quickly testing new ideas in a prototype vehicle is going to help them fine-tune their Urban Concept cars.
"We started an R & D sub-group this year, focused on hydrogen fuel cells and autonomous driving" she added. "Our team is at a point now where we are considering building our own fuel cell."
The team has a winning record. It has finished in every Eco-marathon it has competed in, since its first in 2012. Last year, with its Urban Concept vehicle, named "Alice" the team won first place at the Eco-marathon in Detroit, Michigan. The win earned the team a berth at the world championships in London, England, but a technical issue kept the team off the podium.
Last year, over 1,000 students participated in the event with 124 teams from seven different countries.
This year the team is bringing Alice, with some refinements, and Sophie, the Prototype vehicle, to Detroit April 27 - 30They'll compete against teams from North and South America and are again hoping to qualify for the London contest.
Unlike a traditional race which is all about speed, these competitions challenge the car's ability to go the furthest using the least amount of energy. The U of A team has a winning record with its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Last year, their vehicle achieved the energy equivalent of about 1,300 miles per gallon.
With many team members working off campus on Engineering Co-op work terms, the team is working hard to have both vehicles at their best in time for the competitions.
Pye says that no matter what the outcome of the competition, team members are gaining experience that will serve them for a lifetime.
"In school we have design classes but we don't necessarily have time to do hands-on work and apply what we've learned," she said. "These groups let us do that-it's a real engineering experience. It gives us the opportunity to prove ourselves and that gives us a really strong advantage."