The HAN Ecomarathon is being organised for the 13th time this year! A dozen groups of students from Automotive Engineering have been busy building their own vehicle, which will have to run a course as economically as possible on the competition day of 5 July.

The students have already put a lot of work into it, as you can see in the video above. It would therefore be nice if you could also be present on race day for extra support! The student teams of Fontys from Eindhoven will also be present then to drive the race.

The race day is on Tuesday, July 5 from 10.00 to 18.00 at the latest. The day will take place at the Midland Circuit at Lelystad, Talingweg 89. It promises to be a fun day, where the teams will fight to reach the finish line on the one hand and beat students from Fontys on the other!

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What do you learn as a student from the HAN Ecomarathon?

For most students, the switch from the theoretical to the practical is very welcome. Calculating, brainstorming and doing research are now replaced by grinding, welding and drilling. Because if something doesn’t go as expected, you have to adjust your wagon again.

By actually making the self-conceived design, students learn what the impact is of errors or ambiguities in a design. What was not done properly during the design and validation process is now revealed. This gives students the opportunity to learn in a different way how to make a design correctly and what they need to take into account.

Why the HAN Ecomarathon?

This sustainable race is not about noise and speed, but about building sustainable mobility and an environmentally friendly future. Each team has built and designed a vehicle. Realising ultra-efficient vehicles requires a lot of technical knowledge in the field of design (aerodynamics), (lightweight) materials and combustion or electric engines. In order to appear somewhat equal at the start, the vehicles were built in a very short time and with a limited budget (less than €1,000 per vehicle). The course must also be driven at an average speed of at least 30 kilometres per hour.

Founding father

Wijnand Zwart is HAN lecturer Automotive and the inventor of this HAN Ecomarathon. He has already built several vehicles. “It’s great that the project still exists and that every year a new group of students design various sustainable vehicles with a lot of passion and love, and also make them drive!”

Would you like to know more?

• For more information, please contact: Hans van der Vinne, HAN lecturer Automotive/Powertrain: Hans.VanderVinne@han.nl

Source: HAN
Video: Erik Rijpstra