Delft students present world's "most efficient" hydrogen car

The students of Eco-Runner Team Delft presented the design of the latest hydrogen-powered city car on Thursday. They hope to set the world record for driving the longest distance on hydrogen without refueling with the Eco-Runner XII, thereby showing off hydrogen’s potential as an efficient and sustainable fuel.

The Eco-Runner runs on hydrogen, which it converts into electrical energy. The only waste product from this process is water. The newest model of the Eco-Runner can take five hydrogen tanks instead of four. The students also managed to store more hydrogen in the tanks by putting it under higher pressure. So the car can run longer without refueling.

The only downside is the hydrogen the car runs on is not generated with green energy. Green energy is difficult to get hold of in the Netherlands, and self-production is inefficient for the amounts Eco-Runner Team Delft needs. “One of our goals as Eco-Runner Team Delft is to address this problem as well,” said team member Eline Schwietert.

The team will present the Eco-Runner XIII in its entirety on May 2. It will attempt the world record on a test track in June. Unless another hydrogen car breaks the world record before then, Eco-Runner Team Delft has to cover a distance of more than 2,055 kilometers.