DNV Fuel Fighter

The DNV Fuel Fighter is a hydrogen-driven car that was designed and built in Norway as a student project at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). It was built to compete in the Shell Eco Marathon. The purpose of the competition is to design a vehicle that can drive as far as possible on the least amount of fuel.

Development

The Fuel Fighter^[1] was designed by a group of ten students from NTNU, as a Masters thesis and project in 2009. The car is named after their main sponsor DNV (Det Norske Veritas).

The Fuel Fighter is a modification of its predecessor PureChoice^[2], which first participated in the Shell Eco Marathon in 2008, and ended up second in the Urban Concept class^[3]. Wanting to repeat last year's success, the people behind the Fuel Fighter were determined to enter the competition again and win. They also wanted to be the first car to drive more than 1,000 km (620 mi) on one liter of gasoline.

History

The Fuel Fighter competed in the 2009 Shell Eco Marathon. The cars were to compete in a total of three races. Due to technical problems, the Fuel Fighter team was unable to finish the first two races. However, on their third run the Fuel Fighter ended up winning the Urban Concept-car class and setting a new world-record^[4] after driving the equivalent of 1,246 km (774 mi) on one liter of gasoline. The distance of 1246 km was calculated by first measuring how much hydrogen they had used to drive the distance of the track, and then converting that amount into energy. Knowing how much energy there is in one liter of gasoline (about 32.0 MJ/L), the amount of gasoline per kilometer can be calculated.

The previous world record was 848 km and was set in 2008^[5], by De Haagse Hogeschool from Netherlands.

The Fuel Fighter also won the prize for the lowest CO2 emissions in the Urban Concept category, with an emission of 2.6g/km.^[4]

Design and technology

Body and engine

The Fuel Fighter was designed to be as light as possible. Weighing a total of 80 kg (176 lbs), the body is made entirely of carbon fiber and weighs about 20 kg (44 lbs). To minimize wind resistance, the car was tested in wind tunnels and then reshaped according to test results.^[2]

The car uses a 600 watt electric engine from SmartMotor called SP300^[6], modified to suit the needs of the car. It also uses cruise control and computer-controlled acceleration to help the driver drive as fuel efficient as possible. The Fuel Fighter uses a hydrogen fuel cell and the optimal speed (the most fuel efficient) is 25 km/h (15.53 mph). The fuel cell used is a 1600 watt Ballard Mark 1020^[7].

The dimensions of the car is 2.5 meter long, 1.2 meter broad and 1 meter tall.

Fuel consumption

The fuel consumption of the car is measured to be about 0.01 liters/km, which is the equivalent of 235.2 mpg. In comparison, a Toyota Prius, voted the most fuel efficient overall car by the United States Environmental Protection Agency^[8] can achieve 51 mpg at its best.

References

1. ^ "DNV Fuel Fighter". dnv.us. 2009. http://www.dnv.us/moreondnv/research_innovation/fuel_fighter/index.asp. Retrieved 2010-01-24. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Fuel Fighter & PureChoice". fuelfighter.no. 2009. http://org.ntnu.no/ecomarathon08h/wordpress/?page_id=16. Retrieved 2010-01-24. 
3. ^ "Urban Concept class". shell.com. 2009. http://www.shell.com/home/content/ecomarathon/about/vehicle_categories/#tab2. Retrieved 2010-02-02. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Shell Eco Marathon 2009". shell.com. 2009. http://www.shell.com/home/content/media/news_and_library/press_releases/2009/eco_marathon_europe_2009_09052009.html. Retrieved 2010-01-24. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Shell Eco Marathon 2008". shell.com. 2008. http://www.shell.com/home/content/media/news_and_library/press_releases/2008/eco-marathon_europe_24052008.html. Retrieved 2010-01-25. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "SP300". SmartMotor. 2009. http://www.smartmotor.no/downloads/SP300_SmartMotor.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-02. 
7. ^ "Ballard Mark 1020". Ballard Mark. 2009. http://www.ballard.com/files/pdf/Spec_Sheets/PEM_FC_Product_Portfolio_docmetrics.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-02. 
8. ^ "Fuel economy, best and worst cars". fueleconomy.gov. 2010. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/bestworst.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-24. 

External links

Official website: The DNV Fuel Fighter