DTU eco-car sets new world record

Fire can’t stop car from driving 665 kilometres on one litre of petrol

The student-driven project DTU Roadrunners at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has set a new world record in distance driven on one litre of petrol in the Shell Eco-Marathon race held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The car – which is named DTU Phoenix and took part in the UrbanConcept ethanol category – drove the equivalent of 665 kilometres per litre of petrol, which is 53 kilometres better than the previous world record of 612 kilometres, also held by DTU.

READ MORE: Disposable bin from DTU students wins prestigious design award

Literally on fire
The result for DTU was even more astonishing given that the students found last week that a fire had started in the car and destroyed the its firewall and almost all of the electronics.

But the team worked day and night to get the car ready for the race.

“We wanted to do 650km/l this year, but that was before the fire,” said Thor Therkelsen Christensen, a team leader for DTU Roadrunners. “What happened was beyond all of our expectations.”





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.