For another year, the TUS-Team team of TU-Sofia participated in the Shell Eco-marathon Europe and Africa 2024 competition for energy-efficient cars in the urban type category, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and secured the prestigious third place, which is an exceptional achievement. The competition took place on the Paul Armagnac circuit in the French town of Nogaro from 18.05 to 24.05.2024. Over a hundred teams participated in the various categories, with a traditionally strong presence of universities from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and others. The TU-Sofia team, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Plamen Punov from the Faculty of Transport, consisted of seven students, including two drivers.
This year, for the first time, in addition to hydrogen consumption, the energy consumption of the car's accessory battery converted to hydrogen energy was taken into account. This makes the results achieved in 2024 even more valuable. The team's goal was to achieve a result of over 200 km/m3 hydrogen, which became a reality in the final attempt with a result of 204.1 km/m3 hydrogen, allowing the team to solidify its third-place position. This is a significant achievement, considering that the team last achieved results of over 200 km/m3 hydrogen in 2017 on the track in London.
Thanks to the third place in the hydrogen cars category, the team was invited to participate in the regional championship between the best urban-type cars powered by various energy sources, including hydrogen, batteries, and CNG. This competition is for speed, with the winner being the team that first crosses the finish line of six laps, but having energy for one lap equal to the energy from its best result in the efficiency competition. Hydrogen cars lag significantly behind those with batteries and CNG in this competition because fuel cell performance depends heavily on air temperature and humidity, and the competition took place during the hottest part of the day. Thus, without a realistic chance of achieving a better result, the TU-Sofia team finished in eighth place, second among hydrogen-powered cars.
The results achieved in 2024 are encouraging and give confidence that after intensive preparation and appropriate modifications, the TUS-Team of TU-Sofia will perform even better next year.
