An interdisciplinary team of 23 students from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands has broken a world record: Their self-built hydrogen-powered city car, the Eco-Runner XIII, travelled exactly 2,488.45 kilometers over the weekend of June 23–25, 2023. And it did so with only one hydrogen tank filling of 950 grams. This means the climate-friendly mobile surpassed the previous world record by around 400 kilometers.
Drees & Sommer supported the team of TU Delft. Eco-Runners Team Delft and Drees & Sommer were also in constant communication in the Netherlands throughout the year. Colleagues attended events such as the Car Reveal Show, student fairs, and other networking events. An earlier model of the Eco-Runner was on display for several weeks at the office in Capelle, in the Rotterdam region.
“We would like to congratulate the whole team for the world record and for the innovation of developing a hydrogen car,” said Henk de Vree, Sector Leader Infrastructure with Drees & Sommer Netherlands. Then went on to say: “At Drees & Sommer, we are convinced that green hydrogen will play a key role for sustainable mobility and infrastructure. Therefore, we are happy to actively contribute to research and development in this future field.” Drees & Sommer supports the entire value chain of production, transport, storage, and use of green hydrogen. The experts advise their clients on structural-technical and infrastructural issues as well as on the conception, planning, and realization of facilities and buildings.
About the project
Every winter semester, the so-called Dream Teams are formed at TU Delft, one of the most renowned technical universities in the Netherlands. These teams have one year to devote to a “technically ambitious and groundbreaking” project. For Eco-Runners, the goal is to use hydrogen technology to drive the energy transition and draw more attention to the potential of hydrogen. They are now doing this for the 13th year running, by developing a hydrogen-powered car every year and improving it with the help of the experience gained from the previous models.