Netherlands TU Delft University's Eco-Runner XIII hydrogen car travels 2,488.45 km/h on just one tank of hydrogen fuel.
Eco-Runner XIII sets record at Immendingen. Video: TU Delft University
A group of students from TU Delft University introduced the latest prototype of the Eco-Runner hydrogen-powered small car, the Eco-Runner XIII, in May 2023. The car set a Guinness World Record for the distance traveled in just one month, New Atlas reported on July 3. The Eco-Runner is designed to be 100 times more fuel-efficient than modern fossil-fuel cars.
The development team chose the Immendingen test track in Germany to set the record. The test took place on June 22. The next day, at 4 a.m., the vehicle began its run, traveling at 45 km/h, nearly double the speed of last year's prototype. The previous record of 2,056 km was broken on June 25, but there was still fuel in the tank, so the Eco-Runner continued to run. The vehicle stopped at 8:26 a.m. local time on June 26, reaching 2,488.45 km/h with 950 grams of hydrogen, setting a Guinness World Record for "the greatest distance traveled by a vehicle with a full tank of hydrogen."
Like TU Delft’s impressive Solar Electric Car, the Eco-Runner is an annual collaboration between students from various faculties. The project began in 2005 with the three-wheeled Eco 1, which finished in the top five of the 2006 Shell Eco-marathon and achieved 557 km/l of fuel.
The next bullet version switched to a hydrogen fuel source, where hydrogen was piped from the storage tank to a fuel cell for an electrochemical reaction that produced electricity with the only waste being water. This model achieved an efficiency equivalent to 2,282 km/l of gasoline and set a record in the Netherlands.
Subsequent designs continued to be refined until the first urban vehicle concept was born in 2020, still possessing three wheels but significantly shortening the vehicle length. Later versions added a fourth wheel and ran continuously for 36 hours on a hydrogen tank for a distance of 1,195.74 km. The design team won first place in the Hydrogen Efficiency Challenge last year.
The redesign focused on setting a new distance record. The development team of 24 students now built the Eco-Runner XIII to be stronger, with an aerodynamic shape and weight-saving construction.
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