From 19th to 24th May, the Nogaro circuit (France) hosted the international competition Shell Eco-marathon Europe and Africa 2024 . It is an annual competition, addressed to student teams of the main universities and technical institutes from European and African countries. The aim is to design vehicles that use less energy as possible and compete in a mileage race that rewards the most efficient vehicles in the World.
The Team Green Mecc participated with Asteria, a battery powered electric vehicle. It is an extremely lightweight vehicle, realized through an extensive use of composite materials.
During the season, the team focused on reducing all mechanical resistances, developing an efficient powertrain and defining an optimal race strategy.
From the aerodynamic point of view, the application of the so-called "riblets" deserves particular mention. These are thin adhesive films that reproduce the typical skin geometry of some marine animals (for example sharks) and help to decrease the aerodynamic resistance.
In the first phase of the competition, the team successfully passed all technical inspections aimed at verifying the compliance of the vehicle with the competition regulations.
However, it was the on-track competition that provided the greatest successes to the team.
Team Green Mecc achieved a wonderful third place in the battery electric Urban Concept vehicles category, with a consumption of 230 km/kWh.
Thanks to this result, the team qualified for the first time in its history to the Drivers' Championship, a race reserved for the best Urban Concept vehicles to determine which vehicle combines the best energy efficiency, speed and race strategy in managing energy consumption.
After an exciting race, full of overtaking and twists, Team Green Mecc crossed the finish line in second place. The whole team was then able to release their joy and happiness with the celebrations on the podium.
"The podium in the mileage race is a result that we have been chasing for years and that we often missed for very little. Having no experience with the Drivers' Championship race format we didn’t know what to expect, but already after the test session we found out the strength of our vehicle. It is a great joy, which repays all the efforts to be competitive", explained the team manager Pietro Stabile, who adds "we are excited for the achieved results but we are aware that we can improve and achieve even better results".
The team is already working on the design of a new vehicle, with the objective of staying on the first step of the podium next year.