A fuel cell powered car built by a team of UVic engineering students is set to compete in the second annual Shell Eco-marathon Americas that runs from April 10-13.
The race, held at the California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., judges cars on fuel efficiency rather than speed while completing a 17.7 kilometre course at an average speed of 24 kilometres per hour. The UVic car, dubbed H2Drive, is the culmination of over a year of work and is expected to have a fuel efficiency 10 times better than the most efficient conventional cars. Most modern cars have fuel economies ranging between 12 and 17 kilometres per litre.
H2Drive will be driven by doctoral candidate Aimy Bazylak, the smallest member of the 11-person design team.
“I’m really excited,” said Bazylak. “It will be my first time driving a fuel cell powered car, and it will be a unique opportunity to be on the road with so many other fuel cell powered cars.”
H2Drive will be competing against 37 other entries from high schools and universities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The University of Laval and UBC are the only other Canadian entries. The most fuel-efficient car receives $10,000, while three category-specific prizes of $1,000 each for the best performing car powered by a fuel cell, combustion engine and solar power.
Last year’s winner was California Polytechnic State University, whose combustion engine vehicle managed to have a fuel economy of 809 kilometres per litre. The fuel cell powering the three-wheeled, pill-shaped vehicle from UVic works by generating electricity through an electro-chemical reaction from hydrogen stored in on-board tanks and oxygen from the air.
UVic’s fuel cell car cost about $20,000 to build and transport to the competition site, with much of the funding coming from the faculty of engineering, the BC Hydrogen Highway project and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Bazylak said the team’s goal isn’t necessarily to win but rather to gain experience, promote more sustainable technologies and encourage future students become involved.
“It is our hope that by building this, it will engage the public in learning about sustainable energy and inspire other students to participate,” she said.
Source: http://www.martlet.ca