2,890 kilometers on just one liter?
BTU team Lausitz Dynamics is runner-up Europe and Africa 2025 in the Prototype Hydrogen category
The winners of this year's Shell Eco-marathon energy efficiency competition were announced on June 15, 2025. In the Prototype hydrogen category, the Thaiger-Racing team won just ahead of the student BTU team Lausitz Dynamics. The latter took 2nd place with a proud performance of 964.3 km/m³.
This means that the Hydragen energy-saving vehicle developed by the students would travel 964.3 kilometers on one cubic meter of hydrogen. Converted to petrol, that would be around 2,890 kilometers with the consumption of one liter.
The student team Lausitz Dynamics from Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) took its Hydragen vehicle to neighboring Poland from 10 to 15 June 2025 to take part in one of the world's largest energy efficiency competitions.
The Shell Eco-marathon Europe and Africa 2025 was held on the Silesia Ring in Kamień Śląski. Around 140 international teams competed in various categories with their self-developed energy-saving vehicles. The aim of the annual competition is to research climate-neutral mobility and sustainable energy sources. The aim is not to drive as fast as possible, but as energy-efficiently as possible. All teams try to cover a given distance using as little energy as possible rather than at high speed.
The BTU team uses a fuel cell in its Hydragen vehicle to generate electrical energy from hydrogen and oxygen from the air. This drives the engine - environmentally friendly, quiet and, above all, highly efficient. The vehicle competed in the Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category.
In the Lausitz Dynamics team, 17 students, mostly from the Electrical Engineering degree course, with one prospective mechanical engineer and driver Thi Ha An Le from the Nursing Science degree course, are highly committed to successfully participating in the competition. The student team manager is Theo Beutke, a dual Bachelor's student of electrical engineering. At the BTU Senftenberg site, the students work together on an interdisciplinary basis under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sylvio Simon and the technical guidance of staff members Sindy Schmidt and Shadi Sykora.
After the BTU vehicle successfully competed in the Shell Eco-marathon in the south of France last year, the students have now mastered the conversion to a fuel cell drive. The important innovations on the vehicle also include additional so-called supercaps as intermediate storage, internal front wheels, a wheel housing for the rear wheel and a new brake installed at the front.
Ten student team members and the two technical supervisors traveled from the Senftenberg BTU campus to Kamień Śląski for the Shell Eco-marathon 2025 early in the morning on Tuesday, June 10. The challenging technical inspection, test drives on the Silesia Ring and, from Friday until the return journey on Sunday, June 15, the decisive scoring runs with the Hydragen were scheduled.
The BTU team took part in the Shell Eco-marathon with team number 215 and, after taking the lead for a while, finished just behind the team from Stralsund University of Applied Sciences and well ahead of the team from the Politecnico Di Torino, the Polytechnic University of Turin. A total of 15 teams from seven countries were registered in the Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category and nine were ranked.
Student team manager Theo Beutke says: „The Shell Eco-marathon 2025 was an exciting but also challenging event with a focus on safety, fun and creativity. The helpfulness, enthusiasm and ambition of our own team, but also of all the teams among themselves, made it an experience in which we were able to surpass ourselves together, all in all the absolutely successful highlight that we had been working towards for a long time."
Team member Richard Gladis emphasizes: „The trip to the Shell Eco Marathon was my first participation in this competition. The event was better organized than I had expected, which allowed us to concentrate fully on the project and our goal. Not only did we have the opportunity to grow closer as a team, but also to talk to other participants. I particularly enjoyed the practical work on the vehicle. It was a lot of fun and helped me to better understand theoretical contexts. Overall, I learned a lot - and if the opportunity arises, I will definitely take part again."
Thanks to all supporters
“On June 2, we completed the last test drive at the DEKRA Lausitzring,” reports supervisor Sindy Schmidt. "The team was repeatedly able to gain important insights for the further optimization of the vehicle in preparation for the marathon. The team would like to thank the DEKRA Lausitzring for this great opportunity to complete test drives. Special thanks also go to the town of Senftenberg, whose generous financial support makes participation in the marathon possible."
We would also like to thank Sparkasse Niederlausitz, LEAG Konferenzcenter, Lausitzer Wasser GmbH, REWE Familie Radke, Plottbaer Werbetechnik and the Institut für Umwelttechnik und Recycling Senftenberg e.V. for their support of the Lausitz Dynamics student team.
Other news from the department science
