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Headline : New World Record: Vehicle Named World’s Most Energy Efficient
Caption : PICTURE SHOWS: Eximus IV, from Dalarna University, has been named is the world’s most energy efficient vehicle.


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Sweden’s Delsbo Electric 2019 event saw a new world record and a ground-breaking Maglev-innovation.

Eximus IV, from Dalarna University, has been named is the world’s most energy efficient vehicle.

The competing vehicles drive for 3.36 km on the Dellenbanan-railway with six passengers and an average weight of 50 kg per person. To achieve the perfect total weight, teams invite children from the audience to join them for the competitive run.

The new world record for energy efficient vehicles is 0,603 Wh per person per kilometre. That means you can travel 75 km on the energy that is contained in a teaspoon of petrol, and it is likely the most energy efficient transportation of a person ever.

Organisers say: “To put it in perspective: If a car would have the fuel consumption of Eximus IV, a person could travel the distance between Stockholm and Buenos Aires (Argentina) using less than one litre of petrol. All data from the 2019-competition will be made public to help teams break the world record yet again.”

The Chalmers Technical University team presented what has been dubbed “a potential game-changer for rail travel.” They won the HHK Innovation Award with a compact, low-cost take on a maglev system that can run on regular rail tracks.

Organisers say: “Delsbo Electric 2019 lived up to expectations and delivered yet another world record in energy efficiency and sustainability. The winners from Dalarna University and Chalmers Technical University displayed technical brilliance and game-changing innovation.

“Delsbo Electric is a competition where the best and brightest students build battery powered rail vehicles to compete in energy efficiency. Vehicles at Delsbo Electric has broken official world records in energy efficiency for four consecutive years.”

In 2018, Dalarna University broke the world record and the 2019 team were under pressure to match their predecessors. There was a sigh of relief from the team when it was clear that their vehicle Eximus IV had won and that it was the new world record holder: ”It feels great,” says student Peter Hagfalk. ”But best of all, we beat last year’s Eximus III.”

Dalarna University has a unique take on the design process. Students must build a brand-new vehicle each year and they are only allowed to examine previous year’s vehicles after they have created a concept of their own. Eximus IV is shorter and much lighter than previous models, weighing in at 65 kg – almost 21 kg less than last year’s Eximus III. The weight reduction is achieved using ultra lightweight aircraft material, a new motor and new wheels.

This year’s vehicle has a more efficient design thanks to extensive wind-tunnel testing.

Delsbo Electric is often the first time most of the attending children come in contact with hi tech-development:

”Delsbo Electric is much more than a competition – it’s a festival for a hopeful future. We want to help create a sustainable world together with coming generations. What we do at Delsbo Electric today will have an impact on their future”, says Lars Gustavsson, Project Manager for Delsbo Electric.

Levitas, the contribution from Chalmers Technical University, lifted Delsbo Electric to new heights of innovation and the students from Gothenburg were awarded the HHK Innovation Award for their small and inexpensive magnetically levitating vehicle (Maglev).

Students from Chalmers have been developing a Maglev-train solution for existing rail tracks during the last three years. At Delsbo Electric 2018 they had solved how to build the magnetic suspension and could demonstrate one side of the vehicle. In 2019 they had a whole vehicle in place that can carry a weight of 160 kg and stay floating two millimetres above and below the train tracks. The engineering tolerances are extremely fine, and the advanced control system developed for the machine allows for simulation which will greatly speed up future development and innovation. Maglev trains and magnetic tracks are extremely expensive to build, and the technology used for Levitas could form part of cheaper solutions in the future:

”What these guys have done is a potential game-changer for rail travel. Chalmers has created a cheap, well-functioning magnetic levitating train with an impressive control system. The students even hand-wound some of the magnetic coils to keep costs down. The world should stand up and take notice – this is big”, says Paul Bogatir – HHK Cluster Manager and chairman of the Innovation Award jury.

During the competition HHK and Delsbo Electric gathered representatives from industry, public office, academia and Research Institutes Sweden (RISE) to generate new concepts to inspire future students. Among the concepts were suggestions on how to use hive-mind technology and small rail-pods to increase the utilization rate on railways and increase the numbers of departures.

A concept around sustainability suggested automated pollination-trains with insects on the outside and passengers on the inside. The Delsbo Electric project-team took the concept to heart. Eximus II, the now retired world record vehicle from 2017, is already filled with dry reeds and will serve as a rolling insect hotel during the summer of 2019.
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