DLSU Eco Car team bags 2 awards in Eco-marathon

The DLSU Eco Car Team’s entry in the UrbanConcept Battery Electric category of the Asian leg of the Shell Eco-marathon maintained its lead and ended the race at 2nd place. The car, named Archer, bested 14 other cars fielded in the category.

The Archer posted a 66.38 km/kWh record. The entry of team ITERBO3 from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore sped into first place with their car posting 126.3 km/kWh.

DLSU was the only university from the Philippine to place in the competition. Meanwhile, a team from the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) also bagged a win in the UrbanConcept Diesel category, after garnering a rating of 47.44 km/L.

A total of 107 teams from 15 countries participated in the competition’s 12 different categories, fielding in cars that run on hydrogen, electric battery, alternative gasoline, among others. The Lasallian team also fielded an entry in the UrbanConcept Gasoline category, alongside 18 other teams, but the entry car Delta failed to make it to the top three.

The DLSU team also shared the Perseverance and Spirit of the Event Award, one of six off-track awards, with the MIT Eco-Warriors from India. The award comes after the students from DLSU aided in reassembling the Indian team’s car following carrier complications that left the latter team’s car stuck in Singapore. DLSU lent the shell of DLSU’s first entry to the Eco-marathon back in 2011, a prototype battery electric car, the DLSU 100.

The Philippines played host to this year’s competition, with the races and other activities held at the Rizal Park and the Quirino Grandstand. This is the first time that the competition was held in the Philippines, and is also the first time that an actual street circuit was used for the races. Participating countries include Brunei Darussalam, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

In 2013, the Asian leg of the Shell Eco Marathon held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was cancelled due to increased haze following the forest burning in Indonesia. The off-track awards, however, were still handed out, with the DLSU team taking home the Communications award.