A car that runs 1,500km on one litre of fuel
dubai — A super energy saving car, which could cover 1,500km using just one litre of fuel, has been developed by a team of students at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU).
The five engineering students will take their ultra-low energy vehicle to compete in the annual global Shell Eco-Marathon Asia from March 16-19 in Singapore, where over 100 teams will be aiming to push the boundaries of clean-andgreen four-wheeled transport.
‘Team UAEU’, have spent four months designing, building and testing the model that they hope will overcome fierce competition from all over the Middle East and Asia in the contest, where the challenge is to drive the furthest distance using the smallest amount of energy.
University competitors must fund, conceptualise, design, build, test and modify their own vehicles to run on an energy source of their choice in one of two categories: the prototype section, where drivers squeeze into low-slung cars, lying on their backs; and the Urban Concept category, comprising more familiar-looking cars, sometimes with several seats, that are built for real-world use.
The contestants use fuels ranging from hydrogen and battery power to traditional fuels, as well as alternative sources such as ethanol, with technical experts at the event calculating how far they could travel on the equivalent of a single litre of gasoline.
For Team UAEU, diesel is their choice — and making the UAE proud is their aim.
“We want to raise the flag of our country high,” said UAEU College of Engineering student and team member Omar Aljassmi.
Concept is one thing; turning it into reality is another.
“The competition is about low consumption of fuel and energy,”
We built the car entirely from carbon fibre, so it is really light and very, very strong. We programmed the engine so it could work with less fuel.” Omar Aljassmi, member, Team UAEU
said Aljassmi. “So we knew we needed to get the car to a low weight and have very specific requirements for the engine.
“We built the car entirely from carbon fibre, so it is really light and very, very strong. We also designed it with aerodynamics in mind, and that means the body can resist low air to deal with drag force. And we programmed the engine so it could work with less fuel.
“Our target is to be able to drive 1,500km with a single litre of fuel and we will achieve it.” It is the first time any members of team UAEU have competed in the Shell Ecomarathon Asia. It certainly has a confident team.
“We want to get first place,” vows Aljassmi, who thanked the university for providing Dh100,000 funding for the project.
Dr Hamad Al Jassmi, head of Graduations Projects Unit, College of Engineering, said he had strong hopes for the UAEU team.
“All these initiatives reflect the immense faith we have on future Emirati engineers. They have the skill; they have the energy; and hence we believe they can exceed expectations. The marathon is a good opportunity to demonstrate our students advanced sense of engineering that makes them stand out amongst their global peers.”