University of the Philippines’ Team UP won the Diesel Fuel Award for its UrbanConcept vehicle entry “Kidlat” which runs on a hybrid diesel engine. It chalked up an efficiency performance of 60 kilometres per litre(km/l) of fuel, enough to drive from Manila to Calamba, Laguna.

On the other hand, Mapua Institute of Technology’s Team Amihan was awarded for its exemplary safety compliance during the competition, winning second place for the Safety Award. This prize recognizes teams who have made the most extensive effort to comply with the safety rules and have integrated safety concerns into vehicle design and construction. Other winners were Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and Institute of Technical Innovation for first and third place, respectively.

“This is truly a great achievement for the Philippine teams. They have demonstrated at Shell Eco-marathon that the Filipino youth are at par with their Asian counterparts, and that they are actively taking part in finding solutions to the world’s growing energy challenges,” said Roberto Kanapi, Vice President for Communications of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation.

The Philippines fielded seven teams from the country’s top engineering schools, namely, De La Salle University, Don Bosco Technical College, Mapua Institute of Technology with two entries, Technological Institute of the Philippines, University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas. They were among the 93 teams from 12 countries all over Asia who participated in Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2011.

Student teams participated in either the Prototype or UrbanConcept categories. For the Prototype category, teams entered futuristic prototypes – streamlined vehicles focused on maximizing fuel efficiency through innovative design elements, such as drag reduction.

For the UrbanConcept category, teams entered more "roadworthy" fuel-efficient vehicles. Aimed at meeting the real-life needs of drivers, these vehicles are closer in appearance to the cars seen on roads today.

For both categories, teams can enter vehicles using internal combustion engines running on fuels such as conventional diesel and gasoline or biofuels, as well as alternative and “E-mobility” energy sources such as solar, hydrogen and plug-in electricity.

Teams UP and Team Amihan are grateful for the opportunity to bring honour for the country in this competition. They attributed their success to the camaraderie fostered not just by their teams, but the entire Team Philippines.

“We thank every team for all their help - the tips and advice, even to the point of lending us tools and parts just so our cars could run,” Cyril Radovan, Leader of Team Amihan of the Mapua Institute of Technology shared.

Tito Eusebio, Team Leader of University of the Philippines, added: “We are thankful for this experience, which is a good start for us to interact and work together with the country’s best engineering schools. In this competition, we no longer come as representatives of our individual schools, but as one Team Philippines.”

As early as now, the Philippine teams are beginning to plan on how to win more awards in next year’s Shell Eco-marathon, determined to challenge their peers from other Asian nations.

Students from Thailand and Singapore have set new fuel efficiency records for Asia this year. Thai team Luk Jao Mae Khlong Prapa emerged winner under the Prototype Category,
despite being newcomers to the competition. They set a new record of 2,213.4 kilometres on a litre of ethanol, enough to drive from Kuala Lumpur to Chang Mai in northern Thailand. This is even farther than last year’s record - 1,521.9 km/l – which could take them from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok.

Last year’s winner, another Thai team, Kang Thabbok Upatham Changkol Kho So Tho Bo School, also did better by improving their showing with 1,607.9 km/l.

Singapore’s NP-Distanza Proto, from the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, also set a new record of 84.9 kilometres per kilowatt hour (km/kWh) with a Prototype hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

Another highlight of the E-mobility class – introduced this year – was the Malaysian team from the UTM International Campus, clean vehicle team, with 390.4 km/kWh.

In the UrbanConcept Category, Indonesian Team Mesin ITS4’s internal combustion entry, running on FAME (fatty acid methyl ester), garnered the best efficiency performance with a distance of 149.8 km/l.

Speaking before the Philippine teams, Vincent Cosgrove, Shell’s Vice President Communications for Asia Pacific said,”I can see that the Philippines is taking more and more prizes. It’s a tough competition but I can see you have amazing talents and that’s what Shell Eco-marathon is all about. It’s about bringing together your talents and your innovation to take us forward and to create new possibilities. I look forward to seeing you doing bigger and better things next year.”

The next Shell Eco-marathon Asia will be on July 4 to 7, 2012, at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For more information on the Shell Eco-marathon, please visit www.shell.com/ecomarathon.

ENQUIRIES:

Mylene M. Santos
Downstream Communications Manager
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation
Tel. 63.2.8146087
Fax 63.2.8146494