Shell Eco-Marathon to be held in India for first time

Shell is bringing their marquee event Shell Eco - marathon (SEM) to India for the first time. The SEM Challenger will be part of Make the Future India to be held in Chennai between December 6 and 9, 2018. Shell’s Make the Future is a global platform for conversation, collaboration and innovation around the world’s energy challenges.

SEM, which was first inaugurated in 1939, is the world’s longest-running student competition wherein engineering students are challenged to design, build and test fuel-efficient cars. Indian teams have been participating since 2010 but this is the first time the competition will be held on home ground.

With events hosted in countries around the globe, they aim to provide an opportunity for multiple stakeholders: including students, entrepreneurs, businesses, governments and the public, to experience, test and contribute bright energy ideas. The India tracks will showcase demo for cleaner energy solutions; discussions on powering India’s progress - innovations, challenges and opportunities as well as partnerships for success.

This is also a great opportunity for student teams to test and fine tune their vehicle for the Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2019. For first timers, this would be a great platform to showcase their skill, be part of a world-class experience and test drive their vehicles with fellow competitors on a professional circuit. Student teams that take to the track will be evaluated on the criteria of who goes farthest on the least amount of fuel.

There has been a growing demand from colleges to bring the fuel-efficiency competition to India and this will allow widespread participation from students across the country. In the past, Indian students have showcased many innovative and energy efficient models and prototypes that has also caught attention of industry and government. Team Averera from IIT BHU created a light weight three-wheeled electric vehicle with customised motor controller, that clocked a mileage of 350 kms on a single litre of fuel. The ingenious team from Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka created the prototype with a 100cc motorcycle engine that clocked a mileage of 100+ kmpl while team BITS Pilani worked on a car that would literally run on garbage using ethanol to drive its way into the fuel-efficiency competition.

Commenting on the same, Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India said, “We have seen the quality, quantity, ingenuity and interest of the teams only rise over the past few years. This was one of the motivations behind getting our global competition to India so that more teams are able to participate and leverage this unique platform. At Shell, we believe that these bright young minds have the potential to truly impact the future of sustainability and I am positive that through our people, partnerships and innovations, we will be able to provide more and cleaner energy solutions for a better tomorrow.”

Source: Shell