Saskatchewan Polytechnic students have entered their handmade car into an international eco-competition.
Shell Eco-marathons are annual, international contests focusing on energy efficient vehicles. Hundreds of student teams from across North and South America are entered into this year’s Americas event, which starts Thursday in Detroit.
The competition includes numerous categories, like a mileage contest, which sees vehicles compete on travelling the furthest with one litre of fuel.
This is the first time Saskatchewan Polytechnic will compete.
“There’s a few of us around here that have played around with cars, but have never made one from scratch,” said Tim Muench, Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s engineering program head.
“Seeing the amount of work that they did to actually make it happen is pretty amazing.”
In five months, the engineering students designed, built and tested their car, using the SaskTel Centre parking lot as a testing ground.
The students made the vehicle from lightweight materials, like carbon fibre, to ensure the car could travel far on minimal fuel.
Cody Leusca, a mechanical engineering technology student, will drive the car on competition day.
“Being that low to the ground, it’s a bit sketchy. You can see the ground going really fast, but you just have to trust it,” he said.
Students are competing for prizes ranging from US$500 to US$3,000.
