This academic year (2021-2022), the HAN Hydromotive team consists of 16 2nd-year Automotive Engineering students who have a passion for technology and are developing a vision of what the future of mobility could look like. Like every academic year, HAN Hydromotive is doing this by developing a car to race in the Shell Eco-Marathon. The winner of that race receives one of the world’s most prestigious awards in the field of green mobility!

One of the team members is Francisco del Castillo Suarez. “I believe that being member of the team is going to teach me very valuable skills that I will use later in life. I expect it to enrich my career, especially because of the potential impact hydrogen technology can have in our future. Even though I like the technical side of engineering, I am drawn to the commercial aspects of the automotive industry. That’s why I joined the commercial department of HAN Hydromotive this academic year and I am very honoured to be the marketing manager.”

Francisco is happy to tell you more about the Shell Eco-Marathon. “Due to the aftermath of covid, we are racing in the Netherlands this year, teams from other parts of the world will be competing in different cities. The winner of this competition will be the team that manages to be the most economical. HAN Hydromotive is competing in the ‘Urban Concept Class’. This is a class in which a large number of requirements are placed on the vehicles, making them more like a ‘real-world scenario’.”

The HAN Hydromotive team is competing against some of the largest universities in Europe, teams with huge budgets, more manpower and, all in all, more resources. “Yet this doesn’t stop us,” says Francisco. “The passion and drive we have is immeasurable!”

The team is divided into a commercial and a technical part. The 4 commercial team members take care of all organisational tasks and communication with partners and third parties, while the technical team members take care of the actual construction of the car. The 12 members of the latter group are in turn divided into sub-teams, each with their own specific tasks and all vital to achieving the vision.

Francisco is enthusiastic about it. “The commercial team has spent the last six months working on raising the team’s profile in order to secure as many sponsorship deals as possible, making it easier for the other sub-teams to achieve their vision. These sub-teams (powertrain, body and chassis and brakes and suspension) have spent the last six months designing and testing every part of the car to make sure we can now build a car that will get the most miles we have ever done.”

“We have put a lot of effort into reducing the weight of the car and to make sure that the optimum components are chosen. All in all, it’s about making the car easier to set up and understand, so that big setbacks can be avoided or easily resolved. A new carbon body and lighter chassis will also be built and a new livery designed. So don’t forget to check our socials for updates or to read more about our teams’ work.”

“So far you would think that our goal is to win the Shell Eco-Marathon. Yet our goal goes much further than that! We would like to help develop a world where clean mobility is the standard. We believe that hydrogen can be more sustainable and easier to implement than petrol, LNG or even electrically powered vehicles. We believe in hydrogen as a fully-fledged alternative to fossil fuels, on which the mobility sector can no longer depend.”

Hydromotive is thus more than a college team. It is a representation of what a group of restless and highly motivated students can do to ensure a sustainable future!

Source and photography: HAN Hydromotive