THE first made-in-Singapore eco-car to run on hydrogen was launched yesterday at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Powered by a 1.2kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell, the $40,000 vehicle named KRUCE, or Kent Ridge Urban Concept Ecocar, expels water as exhaust and is twice as energy-efficient as internal combustion engine vehicles, according to fuel-cell technology data.
It will compete against 66 teams from 37 countries at the Shell Eco-marathon to be held from May 7 to 9 at the EuroSpeeday Lausitz, a race track located near Klettwitz in eastern Germany.
The annual contest will see cars perform seven laps - or 22km - around a circuit within 53 minutes.
The winner, who stands to win a cash prize of Euro1,000, is determined by the car which consumes the least amount of fuel over the distance covered.
It is a technological showcase to encourage innovative solutions among youth for the energy challenges of the future.
The NUS team's project, which started nine months ago, is a collaboration among 10 students from the university's engineering faculty, the Design Incubation Centre at the NUS School of Design and Environment, and local technology company Gashub Technology.
Built using lightweight materials such as aluminium and carbon fibre, the car weighs 130kg and can hit a top speed of 40 kmh.
NUS president, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, told The Straits Times: "The project is really about the training of students as engineers...It teaches them to identify and define problems as opposed to just solving them within a defined model."
Team leader Zhang Wei Sheng, 24, is looking forward to pitting his wits against the other car designers.
Said the final-year mechanical engineering student: "It will be a good learning experience because we get to interact very closely with the other teams and also see their innovations."
