Caledonian students showcase battery-run car in Manila

Muscat: In Manila, a city where air pollution has become a major concern, Omani students from the Caledonian College of Engineering unveiled a state-of-the-art car, which runs only on an electric battery.
It, therefore, does not contribute to the growing amount of pollution, which is usually caused by diesel-run vehicles.
The environment-friendly, yet beautiful and colourful machine placed Team Sadarah at the forefront after more than six months spent crafting the vehicle.
On Friday, young and optimistic Omanis competed with thousands of students from all across Asia and the Middle East, who have arrived in Manila for the Shell Eco-marathon, and to put their self-built fuel-efficient vehicles to the test on a street circuit in the heart of Philippines.
The street circuit in Manila tests the boundaries of fuel efficiency and the winners are not measured by speed, but are based on who can design a car that can drive the farthest on one litre of fuel.
While teams can select different sources of energy to run the car, including gasoline, diesel and ethanol, team Sadarah has chosen a battery to move their car via generating electricity.
Asked about why they chose such a challenging option, Amuthak Kanan, associate professor at the college, said battery-run cars are the only ‘real’ environment friendly cars as they don’t require burning any material, and produce no smoke.
“Our concept serves green energy and am sure my eight students will do a great job especially after we have modified our controller this year,” Kanan said.
Speaking about the challenges they faced, he added that his team had encountered difficulties transporting the battery after some flight agencies banned the transportation of some chemical materials, which were used to build the car’s battery.
“Nevertheless,” he said, “Our Filipino friends managed to find an alternative battery here in Manila and we bought a new one.”
However, Team Sadarah will have to make some tweaks and adjustments on Saturday to join the Sultan Qaboos University team and pass the detailed technical and safety inspections.
An annual event, the Shell Eco-marathon dates back to 1939 when Shell Oil company employees in the United States made a friendly wager over who could travel furthest on the same amount of fuel.
“I would like to express my big thanks and appreciation for Nuhas Oman, Yubil Muscat, Faris Al habsi, Alpha performance, Auto ceramic, Best choice and of course, Shell Oman,” Omar Khalaf Al Jabri, Caledonian College’s team leader, added.