Vietnamese students win ticket to world finals of energy-efficient car race

Students of Lac Hong University and their support team arrive at the track in Malaysia on May 2 with their energy-efficient racing car. Photo courtesy of the university

The five boys, students of the Lac Hong University in Bien Hoa Town of Dong Nai Province, finished second in the Driver’s World Champion category of the Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2019 held in Kuala Lumpur on May 2.

The top three winners of each category at the continental level will get tickets to the world finals.

This is the very first time that Vietnamese students have made it to the final round of Shell Eco-marathon, which has been held since 1939.

Shell Eco-marathon is a global program for science, technology, engineering and math students to design and build energy-efficient cars and then take them out on the track in competition.

Around the world, the program has inspired thousands of students to work collaboratively within their university teams to test their energy-efficiency theories, using cutting-edge technology, critical thinking, and innovative ideas.

It has two key competition types, the Mileage Challenge, in which each team competes to see who can get around laps of the track using the least amount of energy; and the Drivers World Championship, in which competitors match the proven energy-efficiency of their car, with the strategy, skill and speed of the driver to see who crosses the finish line first, without running out of their tiny allocation of energy.

The Lac Hong team had their vehicle complete a distance of 170 kilometers (106 miles) by consuming 1 kWh of electricity during the race in Malaysia.

The world finals will also gather top contestants from the Americas and Europe in London in early July.

The champion will be invited to visit the headquarters of Scuderia Ferrari in Italy and take part in training courses with leading experts in the firm.