De La Salle University (DLSU) Eco-marathon Team Proto and Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Mileage won the “Technical Innovation Award” and the “Best in Team Spirit Award” respectively. Students from all over Asia and the Middle East, competed in the four-day event, which gathered the region’s brightest students in the global quest to design and build a vehicle that can travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy.

DLSU Eco-marathon Team Proto impressed judges with an innovative battery management system and smart cruise control function to electronically ensure the best energy efficiency possible. Judge Lee Grant from the Southwest Research Institute said, “They had the most advanced telemetry system I have seen at Shell Eco-marathon Asia.” On the other hand, TIP Mileage stood out with their collaborative spirit, positive dynamics, and highly energised attitudes in the regional competition.

Students from Thailand emerged with the best run at Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2012 with a mileage of 2,903 km/l – the equivalent of driving from Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi. In the UrbanConcept category, Team Cikal Cakrasvarna from Indonesia achieved the highest mileage of 196.3 km/l, running on gasoline.

Team Luk Jao Mae Khlong Prapa of Dhurakij Pubdit University Thailand, which achieved the highest mileage of this year’s event, competed in the Prototype category running on Ethanol E100 and improved on its own 2011 mileage record of 2,213.4 km/l by more than 30 percent. Acknowledging the outstanding performance of this year’s student teams in an award ceremony, Shell Malaysia Country Chair Iain Lo said, “The level of energy and team spirit exuded in the pit and on the track has been truly amazing. It has shown that with team work, impressive results can be achieved. One can’t help but be optimistic that achieving smarter mobility is not too distant a dream, when our future is already thinking of solutions today.”

The 2012 edition of the event has proven to be yet another milestone year with more student teams than ever before participating to design, build and test energy-efficient vehicles that travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. This year’s competition involved 119 student teams from 18 countries across Asia and Middle East.

“Overall, the teams were much better prepared for this year’s competition with 109 of 119 vehicles passing technical inspection – a significant improvement from last year. It’s also been really encouraging to see student teams not just modifying their previous entries, but challenging themselves to create brand new vehicles this year,” said Colin Chin, Technical Director of Shell Eco-marathon Asia.

“Our country’s representatives gave one big fight in the race for energy-efficiency supremacy. Having passed the rigorous technical and safety inspection, and being able to ran the lengths of the Kuala Lumpur’s world-class racing circuit, is already a feat in itself. Congratulations to Team Philippines!,” said Shell Vice President for Communications Roberto Kanapi said.

DLSU Eco Marathon Team ICE’s car DLSU 100mkII chalked 255 km/liter –ranking 8th in the Prototype -Gasoline Category; DLSU Eco-marathon Team Proto’s car 101 ranked 8th in the Prototype -Battery Electric category, with 270 kilowatts/hour; Team U.P.’s car Kislap ranked 4th in the UrbanConcept -Battery Electric Category with 73 kilowatts/hour and TIP Mileage Team’s Symmetry V2 garnered a mileage of 164 km/liter and clinched the lofty 3rd spot in the Prototype -Diesel Category.

Achieving the best run in the various energy types was not the only way to win at Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2012. Teams were also given the opportunity to compete for Off-Track Awards on Safety, Technical Innovation, Design and Communications. In this year’s competition, new awards were also given for Eco-Design, Best Team Spirit and Perseverance in the Face of Adversity. Teams winning Off-Track Awards received USD 1,000.