April 2015 NUI Galway Unveils Ireland’s Most Energy-Efficient Car

Efficient enough to drive from Galway to Dublin on less than €1 of electricity

A super fuel-efficient car which is 20 times more economical than typical road cars was launched at NUI Galway today. It has been designed and road-tested by NUI Galway engineering students. Today (21 April) Connacht Rugby star Eoin McKeon officially unveiled the Geec and it was driven in public for the first time.

The Geec (the Galway energy-efficient car) will represent Ireland next month at Shell Eco-marathon Europe in Rotterdam on 21-24 May. This is the first time there will be an Irish entry in the long-standing competition, and the Geec team will compete with 200 other teams consisting of 3,000 students. The contest is open to future engineers and scientists aged 16-25, from over 25 countries. Success is measured on who can drive the furthest on the equivalent of 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity or 1 litre of fuel, thanks to their creative designs and technical know-how.

The Geec will race in the prototype electric category. The three-wheeled car combines battery-electric drive with a streamlined composite body, a low driving position and low-resistance tyres. Designed from scratch to be as lean as possible, it is efficient enough to drive from Galway to Dublin on less than €1 worth of electricity, or the equivalent of 1,700 miles per gallon.

The team consists of students across the Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic and Energy Systems Engineering disciplines, with the full backing of the University’s College of Engineering and Informatics. The team has finished testing and tuning the car and will shortly ship it to Rotterdam for the competition.

The car will have two drivers in the competition, Niamh Keogh from Oughterard, Co. Galway and Maryrose McLoone from Glenties, Co. Donegal. According to Maryrose, who is a fourth year mechanical engineering student: “The car looks great and is easy to drive. This has been a real hand-on learning experience for us all to get the car finished, and it’s a great success for all involved. now, the excitement is really building for Rotterdam.”

Speaking at the launch Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway, said: “I am delighted to see students from our College of Engineering and Informatics participating in this competition that challenges students across the world to design build and race ultra-efficient vehicles. Never before has an Irish team competed in this event, but this has changed in 2015 with NUI Galway's contribution to the world of eco-friendly transport. This is a great team of students! I commend them for their work in the design, construction and racing of Ireland's most fuel efficient car and I really wish them well. This shows what our emerging engineers can accomplish, with the right support from the University and in partnership with local industry.”

Ronan Deasy, Managing Director at Shell Ireland also attended the launch and said: “Shell Ireland is delighted to support NUI Galway’s Energy Efficient Car (GEEC). The Eco-marathon, which is 30 years old this year, is one of the most challenging engineering student competitions in the world. The GEEC team will compete with over 3,000 students from across Europe and I would like to wish them all the very best as they make their final preparations and look forward to hearing about their success in Rotterdam.”

The Geec team is generously supported by Shell E&P Ireland, Wood Group Kenny, Belcross Enterprises, Central Bearing Supplies, Smurfit Kappa, Sinbad Marine, Maxon Motor, QuickTec Computers, and Enform Plastics.

For more information on NUI Galway’s ultra-efficient car visit the team’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theGeec.ie or www.theGeec.ie.

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