Coimbatore Students’ Hydrogen Vehicle to Compete in Doha Shell Eco-Marathon

Coimbatore, Feb. 6: Students of Kumaraguru Technical College have won accolades for developing a hydrogen-powered vehicle. The new vehicle was developed by a 14-member student team from the college, called ‘Team Renew’.

Pratish, the student who designed the vehicle, said: “This vehicle is lightweight. When hydrogen burns to release energy, no harmful gases are released. We have designed it based on the shape of the endangered fish ‘Atlantic Blue Marlin’.

To keep the weight low, we have used a material made by recycling old PVC waste. We have also used material obtained from tissue papers.

Our vehicle can travel up to 272 km per kilogram of hydrogen. We plan to take it up to 500 km in the future.

It costs 50 paise per km to operate our vehicle. Since it is made of lightweight, there is no loss of safety. Since it is made of low-density sponges, if there is damage, it will absorb it.

The driver will not be affected. If hydrogen leaks, the driver and the controllers will know about it. It will travel at a speed of 35 km per hour.

This will be an energy-saving vehicle for the next generation. Through this, we are going to explore the possibilities of manufacturing public transport vehicles.”

Ashwitha, a student in the ‘Team Renew’ team, said, “The ‘Cell Eco-Marathon’ competition for engineering students is being held in Doha, Qatar from the 8th to the 15th. This is a competition for vehicles that travel long distances with less fuel. Teams from more than 100 countries will participate.

We have manufactured a vehicle that runs on hydrogen fuel. We are the only team from India participating in this category. The vehicle has been manufactured keeping in mind the central government’s green hydrogen production plan by 2030,” she said.