UTCEINewsGreen Team Twente changes course and will participate in the Formula Student competition

Green Team Twente changes course and will participate in the Formula Student competition

Green Team Twente announced during their Design Reveal that they will participate in the Formula Student competition. Through this competition, the team wants to show that hydrogen is ready for the next step, by racing against electric and combustion cars. In this new competition it's not just about efficiency, but also about speed and the business plan behind the project. The top speed of the new car will therefore be around 100 km/h, which is a lot higher than the 30 km/h that it used to be at the Shell Eco Marathon for the past 10 years. The step to more power challenges the team to push the boundaries of the current innovations. In addition, Green Team Twente can enthuse a wider audience about the possibilities of hydrogen in the mobility sector.

 At the moment there is no hydrogen class in the Formula Student competition, the cars only run on petrol or electricity from a battery. The student team thinks that it's time for a change. They are working hard to make a new class for hydrogen cars possible together with the organizations of the competition. “With the step to the Formula Student competition, we hope that the outside world will see that hydrogen is ready for the future, a sustainable future,” says Wouter Groote Veldman, the team manager of the current team.

 A whole new car

The step to higher power means that most components from the old car are no longer usable. These old cars took part in the slower Shell Eco Marathon competition. With the switch to the Formula Student competition, the team faces several new challenges, such as dealing with a high voltage system. “We had to make several changes to our way of working. For example, we now have a larger team (28 people strong) and we have a number of new specializations, such as the design of a cooling system," Wouter continues. 

A challenging project

What makes this hydrogen car unique? It stands out as the only hydrogen car in the largest student racing competition in the world and is made by students with little to no experience with building race cars. “A hydrogen system that has to deliver very much power (49kW) is very complex due to all the different parts involved, it was a real challenge to design this,” says Amina Balha, technical manager of the team. “It is a big challenge to build such a new car within one year. It will take a lot of knowledge and perseverance from our engineers to get everything working before the race, but everyone is super motivated so I am very confident!

Races

Green Team Twente will be present with their new car at the Dutch and German Formula Student competition. These competitions will take place at the TT Circuit in Assen (11th to 14th July) and the Hockenheim Ring (15th to 21st August). The team has still a few months left to develop this new race monster, at the end of the year we’ll find out whether Green Team Twente is able to achieve its goals.

 Text and contact: Wouter Groote Veldman: w.grooteveldman@greenteamtwente.nl

drs. J.G.M. van den Elshout (Janneke)
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