Green Team Twente makes a move in the right direction
Everyone knows the battery-electric Tesla’s. In 2012, they introduced their model S which gave the sales of electric vehicles a boost in countries like the US, China, UK, Norway and the Netherlands. During the same year,
Green Team Twente was founded at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. They did a great job by building a magnificent hydrogen car, which won the first place at the European Championship for ultra-efficient hydrogen cars.
Since then, the battle of future mobility has begun. Will the battery electric car like the Model S win or will it be a hydrogen electric vehicle? At the moment hydrogen cars are at the beginning of their growth stage, but consumers are not really aware of their existence and car companies are waiting for a proper hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Therefore, the market for hydrogen cars is currently less developed than the battery electric market, but both have the same potential. Hydrogen vehicles are known for their longer range and shorter refueling times compared to battery electric cars. This potential has to be made reality within the upcoming years.
During my studies MSc Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Twente I wanted to do something which creates an impact. At the Green Team Twente we are working on building the most efficient hydrogen car. The estimations for this year are high, but realistic. With a fuel efficiency of 1L to 1000 km (gasoline equivalent) we belong to one of the top teams in the world.
Number 1 in Europe
As mentioned at the beginning, the first year was a great success. With a fuel efficiency of 727 km/l we became the number one of Europe. During the following years, the track became a lot harder and even some hills were added. It is a very realistic simulation of normal day to day driving, but it makes it very tricky to drive as efficient as possible. Last year, June 2016, we were back in business with a third place.