city bubble car that purely runs on hydrogen can go on long-distance trips without refueling

Eco-runner XIII to attempt a world record

Bubble car Eco-Runner XIII eyes to set a world record for driving the longest distance ever on hydrogen without refueling in June 2023. The Eco-Runner Team Delft, backed by 23 students, develops its mini hydrogen-powered city car every year, tweaking the design and aerodynamics of the vehicle to ensure that every year, its latest car beats its own record. In 2022, the design team took first place during the Hydrogen Efficiency Challenge with an efficiency of 5,407 kilometers per kilogram of hydrogen. In 2023, they want to test out whether or not their recent car concept can travel long-distance without needing to refuel once.

The 2023 design of Eco-Runner XIII resembles a blazing comet or a compact UFO speeding through the streets, The cresting top enables to driver to sit up straight and peer through the small windows lined up along their vision. It slopes down onto a hood and trunkless car design that hides and frames the four wheels. Hidden hinged panels are attached to cover up and reveal the wheels which may help reduce the material fatigue of the vehicle. Viewing the vehicle from above, the shape may hint at the half form of a surfboard or boat drawn from Eco-Runner XII’s pointed tail with a nearly sharp tip.

images courtesy of Eco-Runner Team Delft

Carbon fiber for car parts usually made from steel

The Eco-Runner Team Delft says they are working on finding a balance between efficiency and robustness and improving the sturdiness of the car in time for its world-record attempt of covering the distance of more than 2,055 kilometers on a single run. To make way for a lightweight car, the design team employs carbon fiber for the car parts that are usually made from steel such as the push rods in the steering system or the suspension beams. With this material, Eco-Runner XIII can blaze forward easily with less weight and drag.

The design team also regards limiting the energy losses within the car to guarantee its efficiency and speed. These losses include rolling resistance, air drag, but also the losses that occur when converting hydrogen to electricity or converting electricity to kinetical energy (movement) in the electrical motor. ‘To minimize these energy losses, we designed and developed our new, custom-made electrical motor with an increased efficiency, and we optimized our powertrain system with a brand new fuel cell, tuned to our needs,’ the Eco-Runner Team Delft states.

Converting hydrogen into electrical energy

The Eco-Runner Team Delft explains that their hydrogen conversion to car fuel shows the potential of the chemical element being a more sustainable and efficient alternative to fuel in the transport sector. In the Eco-Runner hydrogen car, hydrogen is converted into electrical energy which only creates water vapor and heat, and this is only one of the multiple purposes that hydrogen can be used in, including heat production and as a fuel. ‘Because electric motors have not yet provided sufficient range, especially in the transport sector, hydrogen is being looked at as an alternative clean fuel,’ states The Eco-Runner Team Delft.

The design team’s production is in full swing, and the students work on improving Eco-Runner XIII in the Dream Hall, a specially equipped location on the campus of the Delft University of Technology. The recent car design, which was revealed on May 2nd, 2023 and rendered by Enshape Design Studio, is planned to be the final look for the car that will be put into the world record attempt in June 2023. The new car concept is enclosed in a single shell, either matte- or gloss-surfaced, all while drawing upon the design elements of its 2021-2022 predecessor.