Hello, DesignSpark community!
WHO WE ARE
We’re Green Bath Racing, a team of engineering students from the University of Bath, and we compete in the Shell Eco-marathon to build one of the most energy-efficient vehicles in the world. This year, with the help of RS, we’re excited to completely redesign our powertrain, aiming for greater performance and efficiency. This project is more than just an upgrade; it’s about stretching the limits of energy efficiency.
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Credit: Shell International
THE SHELL ECO-MARATHON
The Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) is a globally recognised engineering competition that challenges student teams to design, build, and drive the world’s most energy-efficient vehicles. Held annually, the SEM brings together aspiring engineers from universities around the globe, pushing the boundaries of fuel efficiency and sustainable design. Teams compete across categories—from battery-electric to internal combustion and hydrogen fuel cells—working to achieve the highest efficiency possible. For Green Bath Racing, participating in SEM is not only an opportunity to innovate but also to contribute meaningfully to the future of sustainable transportation. Maximising energy efficiency and reducing losses is the name of the game at the Shell Eco-marathon.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
With a successful debut in Battery Electric last season, obtaining the British Record for this energy category, Green Bath Racing has set ambitious goals for the next season. Article - A successful summer for new UK record holders, Green Bath Racing. We will be working towards a complete redesign of our current powertrain, changing all crucial components from the Battery to Motor Controller and Motor. We are also planning on implementing a complex telemetry system to better understand the vehicle's behaviour and adopt a more quantitative iteration process to component selection and tweaking. The analysis of this telemetry data will be crucial in devising an efficient strategy at the competition, which contributes massively to the final efficiency result.
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
During the initial design of our Battery Electric powertrain, the team understood the power of testing and liaising with professionals. We ran many tests both in-house and out on a track to assess the performance of the vehicle and understand how each change affects the performance. With the help of a PhD student, we were able to determine an efficiency graph for our motor, which was instrumental in our driving strategy at the event.
This year, we intend on implementing a similar strategy for our new powertrain development, frequently testing our components to gain a better understanding of their functioning. Furthermore, with the addition of a custom-built dynamometer, the team is working towards creating a standardised test to effectively compare the different systems. RS was instrumental in our transition to Battery Electric, providing us with key components for our motor controller and overall electrical systems.
CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
The biggest challenge we had to overcome last season was our overall lack of understanding of electrical drives and systems. As the students working on the powertrain transition were purely Mechanical Engineering with very little background in Electrical Engineering, this posed a great challenge to our students. However, through the struggle, the team was able to develop an efficient working strategy and formed close links with professionals in the industry, electrical engineering technicians and PhD students. This has paved the way for a promising upcoming season, as the team is already actively looking into testing a new motor controller for our powertrain!
RESULTS AND IMPACT
Last year, the team performed exceptionally well, with a result of 696km/kWh, placing us in the top 10 (8th/25). This result put us as the Top UK team, and breaking the previously standing British Record for the Battery Electric category.
For the upcoming season, we are hoping to surpass our previous season's results and assert ourselves as one of the leading teams in this energy category.
CONCLUSION
We’re grateful to RS for supporting us on this journey to create a more sustainable and efficient future in racing. We are eager for this new season, and hope that this story will have inspired some of you :) To all fellow students and engineers: don’t hesitate to take on ambitious projects—each challenge is a step toward innovation!
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