Excellent performance! On 19 May, the HAN Hydromotive team finished first in the category Urban Class Hydrogen during the Challenge Ecogreen Gas, setting a new record! Team manager Joris Oosterhuis reacts enthusiastically. “On our best lap we achieved a consumption of 1 litre on 830km (1:830)! Our previous record was 1:690.”

Watch the drone footage that HAN Hydromotive student Simon Wicher made of one of the laps:

The profit was made with the new hydrogen car HM22. This was recently unveiled with great pride in the Eusebius church. After a year of building and searching for the right balance in materials, the real adventure for 2nd-year Automotive students from team HAN Hydromotive has begun.

At the beginning of June, they hope to achieve an even better performance than the 1:830 at the international Shell Eco Marathon. But then you have to know whether the HM22 hydrogen car does what it is supposed to do.

HAN Hydromotive likes to be well prepared. That is why the student team participated in the Challenge Ecogreen Gas on the Loire-Atlantique circuit in the French region of Brittany from 16 to 19 May.

High temperatures, dynamic track

Marousha van Egmond is the driver of the team. She found it a very cool and challenging track. “There is a lot of height difference in the track and it was a bit of a struggle with the high temperatures. It was a good test and I gained a lot of experience. I am also happy that we were able to get a good first result on the first day of racing. On the last day we were able to improve our laps as much as possible, which gave us a great result: first place!”

“Due to the track and high temperatures, there were difficulties at times,” agrees team manager Joris Oosterhuis. “That has only given us more insight into how the car works and how we can use it best. The track is very dynamic and the temperatures of over 30 degrees don’t always help either.”

On television!

Despite this, the team delivered a great performance. “Yes, and I am very proud that we have achieved such great results. And I was also allowed to give an interview on a French TV station!”

Urban Class Hydrogen

Instructor and supervisor Edwin Kemper saw improvement immediately. “The consumption after the first day was already better than the last 4 years of Hydromotive. We were the only ones in the Urban Class Hydrogen who managed to achieve a fuel consumption of 1 litre per 672 km (1:672) on that day, but the calculation was not comparable with previous years. Being able to use fuel means that you are able to drive 9 laps (of about 2km per lap) and within the maximum time allowed. And if you stop longer than 30 seconds, your result doesn’t count.”

Scoring well at Shell Eco Marathon

The goal is to achieve a very economical performance at the Shell Eco Marathon (from 31 May to 3 June at TT racing circuit in Assen). This is the world’s largest and most challenging student competition in the field of innovation, technology and sustainable applications. No fewer than 35 university student teams will be competing against each other.

HAN Hydromotive is the only university of applied sciences to compete in the hydrogen class. Automotive student Marousha van Egmond will be the only woman driver participating in this international competition.

Source: HAN Hydromotive
Photography: Edwin Kemper