The SZEnergy Team, Széchenyi István University’s student team developing energy-efficient vehicles, unveiled its vehicle named SZEmission in 2019. The years since then have been devoted to perfecting the car, with almost all of the technology beneath the bodywork being replaced. More importantly, the students had plenty of time for testing, allowing them to fine-tune even the smallest details at the ZalaZONE test track.
As a result, the team members approached the first Shell Eco-marathon to be held as an in-person event since the coronavirus pandemic with well-founded confidence. Their work over the previous years paid off: the team finished first with a world record, outperforming its Western European rivals. SZEmission’s dominance was demonstrated by the fact that the vehicle achieved the best energy-efficiency result in four different measurement runs under varying weather conditions, despite the technical issues that arose.
“During technical inspection, we had to make a few minor modifications to the vehicle at the judges’ request. This tested the team’s ability to react, but we remained calm and managed the situation well.”
– said Team Leader Máté Miklós. He added that the team and the French TIM UPS INSA, which shared the same garage, helped each other throughout the competition, demonstrating the sporting and supportive relationship between the rival teams.
The Team Leader was also asked about the key to their success.
“Over the past three years, we have gained an in-depth understanding of the car, and our developments have also proven successful. At the same time, the team has built up a professional knowledge base that we were able to draw on. The competition experience of our senior members also helped us considerably.”
– explained Máté Miklós. He added that throughout the competition, team members continuously discussed the tasks at hand and always made decisions together about the next steps.
In historical context, the victory in Assen represented the greatest success in the history of the SZEnergy Team up to that point. Back in 2010, when the team was still competing with a solar-powered vehicle, it achieved one of the most remarkable energy-efficiency results in the history of the competition at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz circuit, generating more energy during the race than it consumed. The solar category was later discontinued, and since 2013 Széchenyi István University’s team has competed in the Urban Concept category, with the victory in the Netherlands marking its greatest achievement to date.
“This tremendous success could only have been achieved because our students worked together with perseverance, determination and teamwork, supported by the mentoring of our Vehicle Industry Research Center staff. The result reinforces our commitment to our goals: we are building a university that is a leading knowledge centre in Central Europe, a driving force behind the region’s development, highly ranked internationally, attractive to young people and closely connected to industrial companies.”
– said Dr Erzsébet Knáb, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Széchenyi István University Foundation.
“Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a member of the Board of Trustees of our maintaining foundation, asked our university at the inauguration of our Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation Centre to strive to become the best in certain fields.
We are proud of this fantastic achievement, which demonstrates both the international standard of our practice-oriented education and the quality of our talent development, particularly in a key sector such as the automotive industry. An important role in achieving this success was played by the framework and conditions that, thanks to the change in the university’s operating model, our institution can provide more efficiently and flexibly than before, including for education and our student teams.
We are grateful to Minister László Palkovics for this opportunity.”
– emphasised Dr Bálint Filep, President of Széchenyi István University.
The SZEnergy Team is mentored by the university’s Vehicle Industry Research Center under the guidance of Péter Kőrös, Dr Ernő Horváth, Péter Gulyás and Zoltán Pusztai. Dr Ferenc Szauter, Head of the Center, explained that the team’s activities and achievements also provide value for companies.
“Our students have solved weight-optimisation challenges and developed world-class energy-optimisation algorithms that may also be applicable elsewhere in industry. Reducing weight improves a vehicle’s energy efficiency, but it not only saves energy; it also reduces the use of expensive raw materials.”
– emphasised Dr Ferenc Szauter.
Dániel Pup, Head of the Jedlik Ányos College for Advanced Studies, pointed out that students involved in Széchenyi István University’s student teams are highly sought after on the labour market, as they gain experience working on real projects and learn to perform effectively as part of a team. He added that SZEnergy would soon travel to France for the autonomous event of the Shell Eco-marathon, having finished fourth in its online competition in May.
“All of this demonstrates that our talent development and educational programmes are outstanding in two areas related to the automotive industry – electromobility and autonomous transportation – which are currently among the most relevant fields worldwide.”
– said Dr Ferenc Szauter. He noted that László Palkovics, Minister for Technology and Industry, had also congratulated the team on its success, stating that international competitions help involve young talents and university teams in industrial transformation, the adoption of green solutions and technological development. According to the minister, the team’s outstanding performance was also supported by access to one of Hungary’s leading research infrastructures, the ZalaZONE automotive test track, whose capabilities are exceptional even by international standards.
Final results of the Shell Eco-marathon
- SZEnergy Team (Széchenyi István University)
- TUfast Eco Team (Technical University of Munich, Germany)
- TIM UPS INSA (INSA Toulouse, France)
- Cukorova Electromobile Team (Cukorova University, Adana, Turkey)
- TEAM MECC E (Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy)
- Energy Technologies Team (Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey)
- ENSIL-Team (ENSIL-ESCI, Limoges, France)
- Team Niepce (Lycée Polyvalent Niepce-Balleure, Chalon-sur-Saône, France)
- Team EVA (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands)
- CentraleSupelec Racing Team (CentraleSupélec, Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
Source: SZE News – Márton Horváth, Gábor Hancz
