Abu Dhabi billionaire became a proud owner of a top luxury Mercedes V10 Quad Turbo which body was made of white gold almost three years ago. But now with the latest hit, Eco-Dubai 1, greener initiatives in UAE are increasingly gaining speed. Dubai students designed a high-tech eco car which is hoped to travel as far as 1,000 kilometers on just one liter of fuel.
A team of students at the Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai Men’s College created a car that can potentially travel up to 1,000 km on just a liter of fuel. Called Eco-Dubai 1, the modest vehicle is half a meter wide, two meters long and half a meter tall and weighs only 25 kg. It took almost two years of hard work and a lot of enthusiasm by the engineering students to design the “wonder” car. One of the students, Ahmad Khamis Al Suwaidi, said that one day petrol would eventually run out and the only alternative are eco cars. He proudly stated that his team would become the basis of developing a local eco car industry within the country.
The lightweight car is still in its final stage of construction and will start official testing in the following week or two. Amazingly, the driver of Eco-Dubai 1 is a 60-kg student who was said to fit “snugly” into the modern vehicle. Designers will race their car at Shell’s Eco-Marathon which will be held between July 4 and 7, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur. The competition will be attended by similarly designed vehicles from around the world, including four other cars produced in the United Arab Emirates. The other teams are from Higher Colleges of Technology Abu Dhabi and Al Ruwais, as well as from the American University of Sharjah and the American University of Dubai.
All teams will use a unique combination of technologies for boosting fuel efficiency – electricity, solar energy and hybrid technologies. Winner of the race will be the best car that can travel the farthest on just one liter of fuel. Currently, the record for the longest distance traveled on a liter of fuel is held by a team at the Polytech Nantes University, France. Their vehicle traveled 4,900 km using only one liter of conventional petrol.
