Race Day. Eco-Marathon Asia 2014. Manila, Philippines.

Philippines - The biggest energy-efficiency competition in the world starts today in the streets of Manila. 109 teams from the best engineering schools from 15 countries across Asia and the Middle East will be competing in the 2014 Eco-Marathon Asia. The race track is setup in Luneta Park, Manila. It will be a 4 day event, from February 6 to 9, 2014.

Race Track Layout - Luneta Park, Manila

Shell Eco-marathon is a unique competition that challenges students to design, build and drive the most energy-efficient car. At three events around the world hundreds of team compete to travel the furthest on the least amount of energy. Some achieve distances equivalent to driving from Paris to Moscow (that’s 2,485 km or 1,544 miles) on a single liter of fuel.

Philippines is hosting this annual event for the first time, previously it was held in Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The country will have the hosting privilege until year 2016.

The competition pushes for innovation in energy-efficiency and promotes awareness on the need for more efficient vehicles and for cleaner energy source alternative. It is actually a clever way to encourage the “youth from Asia, Europe and the Americas to help address future energy demands through innovative methods—by designing fuel-efficient vehicles, achieving clean and efficient transport, and thereby inspiring smarter infrastructure and smarter cities of the future.”

The competition is split into two classes. The Prototype class focuses on maximum efficiency, while passenger comfort takes a back seat. The UrbanConcept class encourages more practical designs.. Cars enter one of seven categories to run on conventional petrol and diesel, biofuels, fuel made from natural gas (GTL), hydrogen, solar or electricity.

The Philippine Team

With the home court advantage, the Philippine team is in full force with 17 eco-vehicles from the country’s top engineering schools for this years competition. This is a significant increase, having merely 3 entries in the 2010 Eco-Marathon Asia event in Malaysia.

Here are the participating schools for the 2014 Eco-Marathon Asia:

• University of San Carlos (USC) - CEBU
• Adamson University - Manila
• De La Salle University (DLSU) - Dasmarinas
• De La Salle University (DLSU) - Manila
• Don Bosco Technical College - Mandaluyong
• Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) - Makati
• Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) - Manila
• Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) - Manila
• Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) - Quezon City
• University of Santo Tomas (UST) - Manila

The Philippine Team’s Achievements in Previous events

In the past Eco-Marathon Asia events, held Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia since 2010, the country has bagged 8 notable awards. With the event now held in the country, high hopes are expected on the host country student team.

• The University of San Carlos (USC) - CEBU
  • Second place in a special Student Energy Challenge Award (2013)
• Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • First runner-up in the Safety Award (2010, 2011)
  • Technical Innovation Award (2013)
• De La Salle University (DLSU) - Manila
  • Technical Innovation Award (2012)
  • Communications Award (2013)
• Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) - Manila
  • Best in Team Spirit (2012)

For more details on the Awards and the Rules of the event, check out Shell Eco-Marathon 2014 Rules

Shell Eco-Marathon is brought to you by Shell, together is National Geographic, the local government of Manila, Department of Tourism and other local Partners.

source: shellecomarathon