Hungarian university students build electric racing car
The electric racing car, being able to cover 200 km from about 0,14 Euros, is called SZElectivity. Since the foundation of the team in 2015, they have been developing environmentally and power-friendly cars. Currently, the team consists of 22 members, and 6-8 mentors, mainly researchers, who assist their work. The team consists of students from various fields, such as IT, engineering, finance and management. The car has been designed for races, but it may revolutionize urban traffic as well, Szeretlekmagyarország.hu reports.
The team has participated in the Shell Eco marathon for 8 years. This is the world’s greatest power-friendly race. The point is that the vehicles have to cover as long distances as possible with using as few energy as they can. Currently, SZElectivity is the best team in Europe. Their car is able to cover 195 km by using 1 kWh of energy, which costs about 0.14 Euros. SZElectivity enters the race in urban minicar category, because it is equipped with everything necessary for urban traffic. This means that, with smaller rearrangements, it may be put on roads, too.
So why aren’t the roads already full of environmentally-friendly cars, if it is possible to develop them? Zoltán Pusztai told Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu that this is not far away, as the largest automotive companies are focusing on developing electric engines and building them in vehicles. Hybrid cars will be soon replaced by fully electric driven ones, like Tesla.
photo: Facebook.com/SZEnergy Team
The biggest difference between Tesla and SZElectivity is the weight, because Tesla is equipped with all the luxury, while the former does not need to be heavy, since it is a racing car. The Hungarian team’s car weights 90 kg. As for the size, SZElectivity is far smaller than a regular passenger car: it is almost as long as a Smart, but it is thinner. Not even one person can actually fit in it comfortably, but in case of SZElectivity, this is not the main point.
To drive SZElectivity, driving licence is not required, but this does not mean that anyone can easily cope with driving it, because you have to pay a lot of attention to power-efficiency: it is not the driver who brakes on the race course, because it is a regenerative brake built in the engine that slows down the car. Drivers also have to stop after covering 10 laps, and go on again, modelling urban traffic this way. The highest speed is 50 km/h, but during the race, cars run with an average of 30 km/h for the sake of power-effectiveness.
photo: Facebook.com/SZEnergy Team
The model being used now was developed 4 years ago. Since then its appearance has not changed, but the interior is constantly being redesigned. For example, the running gears, the brake system, and also the engine, are changed every year.
There has been only one model so far, but, according to Szeretlekmagyarország.hu, this model, or its successor, may run on roads soon. Till then, the team will concentrate on the races, and building electric cars remains as a hobby. According to Szeretlekmagyarország.hu, they have begun building a new car, and if everything goes well, they will concentrate on the production after the race next year.
Photos: Facebook.com/SZEnergy Team
Ce: bm
Source: Szeretlek Magyarország.hu
