This year, the University of Indonesia Supermileage Vehicle Team (UI SMV) team again made a proud achievement at the 2023 Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) competition. In two race categories, the UI SMV team won two cars at the international energy-efficient vehicle design competition for Asia and the Middle East region, which will be held at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, from July 4–9, 2023. This year, 66 teams from 13 countries in the Asia and Middle East regions competed in six competition categories.
The two UI SMV teams that were brought to this prestigious competition were the Nakoela team and the Arjuna team. The Nakoela team managed to rank second in the prototype Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) class with a fuel consumption of 1,190 kilometres per litre. Meanwhile, the Arjuna Team competing in the Urban Concept Battery Electric class also managed to rank second with an electricity consumption of 172 km/kWh.
What’s interesting about the SEM 2023 event this time is the holding of a more prestigious follow-up competition, the Shell Drivers World Championship (DWC), after not being held in recent years. In the Shell DWC competition, which was held as the peak and closing competition on Sunday, July 9, 2023, Team Arjuna, along with 3 other teams (1 from Singapore and 2 from Indonesia), managed to qualify as a team that will represent the Asia Pacific region to compete with other teams from other regions of the world.
The Shell DWC Competition is a racing competition where the 9 best teams (1-3 winners in 3 Urban vehicle categories) compete to finish the fastest with only the energy provided according to each class. The energy supplies are fuel for the ICE class, hydrogen for the hydrogen class, and battery electricity for the battery class, according to the results achieved at the previous stages of the competition. The excitement of this race is the result of the less energy brought by the top winners compared to the 2nd and 3rd place winners, but you still have to finish the fastest if you want to win in this tight competition.
From the Shell DWC competition, the 9 best teams were further screened into 4 groups to then take part in the world-class Shell DWC 2023 event in India. In the Shell DWC event in India later, the four best Asia Pacific teams, as a result of selection at the Shell DWC Mandalika 2023 event, will compete with the best teams from other regional SEMs around the world. The winner will be named a DWC World Champion and will be entitled to visit Ferrari’s vehicle production facilities in Italy.
The Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, expressed his appreciation for the fighting spirit and achievements of the UI SMV Team in the SEM 2023 event: “The spirit of innovation, creativity, and achievements of the UI SMV Team in responding to energy challenges in the future must be appreciated. because of their enthusiasm and participation in being able to make UI and Indonesia proud on the international stage by providing and creating breakthroughs for the energy transition in Indonesia, which has a positive impact on a more efficient and environmentally friendly transportation sector. Hopefully, the achievements in India will get the best results to make UI and Indonesia proud.”
“This prestigious competition that we have been involved in since 2010 is a great opportunity for students to participate in expressing innovative ideas and contributing to creating transportation that supports clean and efficient energy in the future. The courage of Team Nakoela and Team Arjuna in designing this reliable and efficient vehicle has successfully brought home two proud achievements for UI. This achievement also brought IIM Arjuna UI SMV to the DWC 2023 race in India, representing Asia and the Middle East,” said Dr.-Ing. Mohammad Adhitya, supervisor of the UI SMV team.
The victory of the UI SMV Team was mainly due to research in the application of modern technology, especially the latest software, to produce cars that are more efficient in terms of time, energy, and cost. “The design of the Nakoela car is adapted from aircraft technology, while the Arjuna car is designed to resemble a teardrop shape to minimise drag, accompanied by a propulsion and transmission system that is designed as efficiently as possible to create a high-efficiency vehicle,” explained Ariza Aulia Ghifari, SMV UI team leader.
Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) is an annual competition that brings together students from various world universities to innovate in designing, building, and testing energy-efficient vehicles to respond to future energy challenges. There were six classes competing in this competition: internal combustion engine (ICE) Prototype, Battery-Electric Prototype, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Prototype, Urban Concept Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Urban Concept Battery-electric prototype, and Urban Concept Hydrogen Fuel. SEM 2023, for Asia and the Middle East region, brought together 66 teams from 14 countries, such as Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and other countries.
The UI SMV team consisting of the Arjuna Team, namely Edward Lumbanraja (Mechanical Engineering 2020), Rai Zulfikar Satriagama (Mechanical Engineering 2019), Muhammad Alfan Fuad Dzia Ul-Haq (Electrical Engineering 2020), Zharfan Rosyad (Mechanical Engineering 2021), Ariza Aulia Ghifari (Mechanical Engineering 2020), Irvian Zakky Marta (Electrical Engineering 2021), Zahran Mizuya Kusmana (Electrical Engineering 2020), and Naufal Azmi Mechanical Engineering 2020 and the Nakolea Team, namely Rayhan Danendra Wiracalosa (Mechanical Engineering 2020), Mohammad Iqbal Risya (Engineering Electrical Engineering 2020), Daffa Farhan Ahmad (Mechanical Engineering 2020), Yusuf Timothy Turnip (Mechanical Engineering 2021), Muammar Shaddam Kusnandar (Mechanical Engineering 2020), Arafa Maulana Abdillah (Mechanical Engineering 2021), Hana Nabila (Mechanical Engineering 2019), Nada Wahyudhia (Electrical Engineering 2020), Farhan Manan Ramadhan (Mechanical Engineering 2021), Marsya Renatha Bahasoean (Shipping Engineering 2020). The two teams are under the guidance of a Lecturer in the FTUI Mechanical Engineering Department, Prof. Dr. Ario Sunar Baskoro, ST, MT, M.Eng., Dr.-Ing. Mohammad Adhitya, S.T., M.Sc., and Dr.-Ing. Ridho Irwansyah, S.T., M.T., and a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at FTUI, Dr. Ferry Yusivar, M.Eng.
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Bureau of Public Communications
Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia
