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Competitive motorsport and
sustainability don't necessarily have to be contradictions. The UPC ecoRacing team and
the vehicle they have designed and developed, the ecoR2, are proof of this. They are students,
some of them graduates, from the UPC's Industrial and Aeronautic Engineering School in Terrassa.
They wanted to design a more ecological racing car and they chose a hybrid system combining
a combustion engine and an electric motor. Their motivation was to learn and experiment.
"Our main motivation was to increase our knowledge in the automotive world and especially in
the field of electric power which will dominate the future of the motor car. We chose the
hybrid version because it allows us to work with both technologies: electric and combustion.
And also because, if we accept that the electric vehicle is the future, in the medium term,
the hybrid is the most viable solution." It all started in 2008 with the design of
a prototype, right from the bodywork down to the smallest component plus its manufacture
and assembly. Afterwards, a second model was built but the car that now runs on the test
circuit of Terrassa Town Council and Nicky's Cycling Club is an improved version.
In May, this car achieved 3rd place in a competition in Boston but the team obtained 1st prize
in the evaluation of the global project. In these competitions, speed is not the only
consideration; there is also handling, consumption and most importantly the technological and
economic viability of the project. However, the races are an excellent testing ground.
"It is very interesting to apply these technologies to competition, firstly because they are tested
to the limit just like in competition but also because we break down the psychological
stereotypes that society has of an ecological vehicle being boring and having a limited
performance." Formula 1 racing cars which include the KERS
system to retrieve kinetic energy are also in a way hybrids. Vehicles like the ecoR2,
which will have a newer version in 2014, also allow the testing of technologies which could
soon be seen on the market. Problems like weight, cost and lifespan of batteries are
gradually being solved. Moreover, 70% of the car's components are
made by Catalan companies. This, together with the collaboration of two research institutes,
is aimed at another objective: to boost this country's industrial fabric through research
in a sector with a bright future.