World Car News #Update
The Engineering students at Saskatchewan Polytechnic have built a fuel-efficient vehicle with a distinct Canadian element. The Car: the frame of the Sask. Eco Urban Concept car is made from hockey sticks with a 3D printed shell.
What sets the Saskatoon car apart is not just that carbon fibre hockey-stick frame, but also a six-speed transmission. As excellently built by the students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic, their technological research seek to compete in the high-tech world of designing and building energy-efficient cars, it is no surprise that the aerodynamic frame of their creation is built with hockey sticks recycled from rinks.
Ryen Stallmann and his baker’s dozen-strong crew from the Saskatoon campus; builders of the car, placed second this weekend at the 12th edition of the Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition in california, where students from North and South America are challenged to design and build energy-efficient cars. The placement has qualified the team for the world championship in London, England.
The competition focuses on how fast and far a handmade car can travel with limited fuel. At top speed, the Saskatchewan car clocked in at 59 km/hr.
“If you crunch down the numbers, we got 625 miles per gallon. So, putting that in perspective, we could travel to Regina in just under a litre of fuel,” Andrew Baerg, the faculty advisor on the project, said.