We won with a world record
Source: SZE News – Márton Horváth, Gábor Hancz
The SZEnergy Team, a team of students from Széchenyi István University, came first in Europe’s largest energy efficiency competition, the Shell Eco-marathon in Assen, the Netherlands. The team of Győr managed to cover a world record 284 kilometres with their vehicle using 1 kilowatt hour of energy, beating teams from major technical universities such as Munich, Toulouse and Milan.
The SZEnergy Team, a team of students developing an energy-efficient vehicle at Széchenyi István University, presented its vehicle, named SZEmission, in 2019. The period since then has been about perfecting the car, with almost all the technology under the bodywork replaced. But more importantly, there was plenty of time for testing, so students could try out even the smallest settings on the ZalaZONE test track.
All of this gave the members a healthy sense of confidence as they looked forward to the Shell Eco-marathon, the first physical event since the coronavirus outbreak, and the results of the team’s hard work over the past few years were rewarded: the team finished in the lead, beating their Western European rivals to a world record. SZEmission’s superiority is demonstrated by the fact that the vehicle produced the best energy readings in four different measurement stages in different weather conditions – despite the technical problems encountered.
We also asked the team leader about the secret of the success.
“Over the last three years we have got to know the car well and our improvements have also worked. In addition, the team has built a professional knowledge base that we can now build on. The racing experience of our experienced members has helped as well.”
-said Máté Miklós, who added that during the competition, the team members constantly discussed the current tasks and in each case they made decisions together about the next step.
To put the result in historical context, this victory in Assen is the biggest ever for the SZEnergy Team. It is memorable that back in 2010, the team produced more energy during the race than it consumed, with the most astonishing energy balance of the series, using a solar-powered design at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz. Since then, the solar category has been removed, and since 2013 the Széchenyi István University team has been competing in the urban city car category, with the Dutch triumph being the highlight of the journey so far.
“This tremendous success was only possible because our students worked together with dedication, faith and commitment under the mentorship of our Automotive Research Centre colleagues. The result confirms our ambition to build a university that is a major knowledge centre in Central Europe, a driving force for the region’s development, a top international ranking, a strong attraction for young people and a close link with industry.”
-said Dr. Erzsébet Knáb, President of the Foundation for the Széchenyi István University.
“Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a member of the Foundation, asked our university at the Opening Ceremony of our Centre for Higher Education and Industrial Cooperation to strive to be the best in certain areas.
We are proud of this fantastic result, which demonstrates both the international quality of our practice-oriented training and the quality of our talent management, and in a key sector such as the automotive industry. The framework and conditions that our institution is able to provide, including for education and student teams, in a more efficient and flexible way than before, thanks to the change of model, have played an important role in achieving this success.
We are grateful to Minister László Palkovics for this opportunity” – emphasized Dr. Bálint Filep, Head of Széchenyi István University.
The SZEnergy Team is mentored by Péter Kőrös, Dr. Ernő Horváth, Péter Gulyás and Zoltán Pusztai from the University’s Vehicle Industry Research Centre. Dr. Ferenc Szauter, Head of the Centre, explained that the team’s activities and success are also useful for companies.
“Our students have solved mass optimisation problems and developed world-class energy optimisation algorithms that can be applied elsewhere in industry. Mass reduction increases the energy efficiency of the vehicle, but it saves not only energy but also expensive raw materials.”
– emphasised Dr Ferenc Szauter.
Dániel Pup, head of the Ányos Jedlik Széchenyi College for Advenced Studies, pointed out that young people working in student teams at Széchenyi University are highly demanded on the job market, as they are able to perform excellently in a live and cooperative environment. He added that SZEnergy will soon be travelling to France for the Shell Eco-marathon autonomous race, where it came fourth in the online competition in May.
“This means that our talent management and training in two areas related to the automotive industry – electromobility and autonomous transport – are also outstanding, and are currently the most relevant in the world.”
–said Dr Ferenc Szauter. He also congratulated Minister of Technology and Industry László Palkovics on the success, saying that the international competitions help to involve young talents and university teams in the industrial transition, the dissemination of green solutions and technological developments. According to the Minister, the outstanding performance was also due to the fact that researchers of Győr were able to rely on the unique capabilities of the ZalaZONE automotive test track, one of the most outstanding research infrastructures in Hungary, which is also rare in the world.
Shell Eco-marathon final results
- SZEnergy Team (Széchenyi István University)
- TUfast Eco Team (Technical University of Munich, Germany)
- TIM UPS INSA (Technical University of Toulouse, France)
- Cukorova Electromobile Team (Cukorova University, Adana, Turkey)
- TEAM MECC E (Technical University of Milan, Italy)
- Energy Technologies Team (Karadeniz University of Technology, Trabzon, Turkey)
- ENSIL-Team (ENSIL-ESCI University, Limoges, France)
- team Niepce (Lycee Polyvalent Niepce-Balleure, Chalon-sur-Saône, France)
- Team EVA (Hogeschool Van Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
- CentraleSupelec Racing Team (CentraleSupelec University, Gif-sur-Yvette, France)