Urban Transport

Silver machine rolls down the track to new efficiency record

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Team Eximus 1's final efficiency score was 0.84 Wh/person-km
Team Eximus 1's final efficiency score was 0.84 Wh/person-km
Team Eximus 1 prepared for the competition for 15 weeks
Eximus 1 was made primarily out of aluminum to keep weight to a minimum
Eximus 1 is estimated to weigh about 100 kg (220 lb) and to measure about 5,500-mm (217-in) long by 1,500-mm (59-in) wide
Eximus 1 is powered by four 12 V, 45 W batteries linked together in parallel and a 500 W motor
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Students from Dalarna University, Sweden, have won a competition for creating efficient rail-based transport, claiming world record in the process. Team Eximus 1 was competing in Delsbo Electric, where teams must design and build a battery-operated railway vehicle that uses as little energy as possible.

Delsbo Electric is open to college and university students. It was inspired by the Shell Eco-marathon, with the concept translated for rail-based rather than road-based travel. The track along which the vehicles must travel is 3.36-km (2.09-mi) long and stretches from Fredriksfors to Delsbo in Sweden. Its relief rises and drops by about 3 m (9.8 ft) along its course.

Vehicles must carry between one and six passengers weighing a minimum average of 50 kg (110 lb) each. Vehicle efficiency is measured on a per person basis, meaning vehicles carrying six passengers are not at a disadvantage. They must also be equipped with brakes and be designed not to derail.

Team Eximus 1 prepared for the contest over the course of 15 weeks. The team of four studied previous designs entered into the competition and even went so far as to design and manufacture the wheels for their vehicle.

Eximus 1 was made primarily out of aluminum to keep weight to a minimum

In fact, Patrick Kenger of Dalarna University tells Gizmag that the only parts of Eximus 1 that weren't made at the university were the motor, the battery and the bearings. The wheels are made of steel and the rest of the vehicle, where possible, of aluminum, so as to keep weight to a minimum.

The vehicle is estimated to weigh about 100 kg (220 lb) and to measure about 5,500-mm (217-in) long by 1,500-mm (59-in) wide. It was powered by four 12 V, 45 W batteries linked together in parallel and a 500 W motor.

Kenger explains that, due to a lack of preparation time, the components chosen weren't necessarily the best choices or the most efficient. The motor in particular, he says, will be an area in which the team intends to improve when it competes again next year.

Eximus 1 is powered by four 12 V, 45 W batteries linked together in parallel and a 500 W motor

It took Team Eximus 1 about 20 minutes to travel the length of the track. Despite this, the motor was only used for around 110 seconds, with the vehicle coasting for the most part, as is the case with Eco-marathon cars.

The team's final efficiency score was 0.84 Wh/person-km (watt-hours for every kilometer traveled by each passenger). Delsbo Electric claims that is a new world record.

"This is a record for rail-based travel," explains project and competition leader Delsbo Electric Lars Gustavsson to Gizmag. "We have done research and not found any information about somebody or something traveling as efficient rail-based in the world. In fact, it seems like Eximus 1 achieved a lower energy consumption per person than the current Shell Eco Marathon record."

Delsbo Electric 2016 was held on Saturday May 28. Eximus 1 is now on display at the entrance way at the Dalarna University campus in Borlänge.

The video below shows Team Eximus 1's record run at Delsbo Electric.

Sources: Delsbo Electric, Dalarna University

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9 comments
MQ
So this team nearly broke the 10 minute mile.
Where is the astonishing achivement at travelling slower (nearly) than walking pace. At this rate it could nearly cover the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco in nearly 64 hours, astonishing achievenent, Elon will need to put toilets and food services in the hyperloop, if it is ever to reach these heights of efficiency.
Future3000
Why do they use such energywasting flat wheeldesign? If you took hardend steel or ceramic wheels only 3mm width, you save 90% of these wasted roll resistance, so next year the "world record" should be 0,09 Wh per passenger. Nice try, if I was the professor, I would say: average, try it again!
Douglas Bennett Rogers
This might be good for a seasonal moving house.
DmitryRomanovich
MD is right. Seriously 6.3mph (10.1km/h) is not very exiting. They should set minimum average speed limit for competitions like this. I'd recommend starting at 150mph.
Daishi
The point of the experiment is is to push boundaries and show what's possible. They made a valid point.
With 6 people that means they used 5 wH/km overall. I think a Chevy Volt can ballpark for around 155 wH/km in regular driving for comparison. I don't think they were going for a land speed record but with that efficiency they could probably produce more power from solar panels than they are using for propulsion.
Bruce H. Anderson
OK, the pace isn't exactly exhilarating, but this is baby steps. Records will fall on the next go-round.
Mark Radell
Really neat competition but I really wish they were also factor in the time it takes to run the course. Greatly reducing energy usage for travel is certainly a great idea that needs to be pursued but in today's world energy efficiency without a reasonable speed will not be adopted by the general public
jstack6
Put pedals on it and it would be much faster and use no fossil fuel at all, unless you could a few saldads before the race. The fastest Human Powered Vehicle is over 84 MPH for over 1 hour. https://www.asme.org/events/competitions/human-powered-vehicle-challenge-(hpvc)
fidalgoman
As others have commented this is totally irrelevant to the real world. If say it had to move at some useful speed like 50 MPH average then it might have some relevant application. As is it's only a useless game.
This is like a car manufacturer saying they get 100 MPG @ 18 MPH. Totally useless for anything practical.