DLSU Eco Car team bags first in SEM Asia 2015

The DLSU Eco Car Team (ECT) won first place for the Urban Concept Category- Gasoline Energy in the Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) Asia 2015 held last February 26 to March 1 at Rizal Park. The ECT also entered another car for the same category but for the Battery Electric energy type. The goal of the event was to make the cars that could run a longer distance while consuming lesser fuel.

Rafael Benito (III, MEE), the driver of “Delta,” the car which won first place by having a fuel efficiency of 127 km/L, said that SEM “gears towards a better future” since it gives way for students to develop and innovate vehicles which can help save energy for the future. He added that SEM was a good learning experience for their team because it opened rooms for development in their innovations by competing with others and getting ideas from them to be able to improve their own work.

“Archer,” on the other hand, which won first runner-up last year, was not able to garner a win for its category despite developments made for this year. According to Benito and another member, John Michael Dimayuga (III, MEE), “Archer” did not perform as well as “Delta” because of problems in its motor control and overcurrent occurrences which led to the shortening of the engine’s life.

Challenges abound

Their path to victory was not an easy one, as the team shared that constraints in time and money hindered their preparations. Benito and Dimayuga explained that there were instances wherein their budget was not given to them on time, which complicated the purchasing of parts and consequently delayed further processes.

Moreover, when they finally bought the imported parts such as the tires, the shipping of the products was also delayed, despite having a full year to work on the cars.

Nonetheless, Benito is optimistic that his team would improve for next year’s competition especially if they have better teamwork.

ECT competed with more than a hundred teams from 17 countries around Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and countries from the Middle East and Africa.