Emirati students design economic car

Shell's Eco-Marathon takes place in July Dubai - Arabstoday A team of Emirati engineering students have designed a car that could potentially travel up to 1000-kilometres on just one litre of fuel, a local paper reported on Monday. The lightweight vehicle is in its final stage of construction and will begin testing in the next two weeks, The National said. The product of almost two years work by students at the Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai Men's College, the vehicle is half a metre wide, two metres long and half a metre high and weighs about 25kg. It will enter a race in July against similarly designed cars from around the world, including four other vehicles produced in the UAE. "The Petrol is not going to last forever," Ahmad Khamis al-Suwaidi, one of the students behind the Men's College car, said. "One day we're going to run out. So in terms of developing a local eco-car industry, it starts with us. We're the future of the UAE in this." The students at Dubai Men's College will put their creation, named Eco-Dubai 1, to the test at Shell's Eco-Marathon between July 4 and 7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The competition is based on designing a car that can travel the furthest on just one litre of fuel. Students are allowed to use electricity, solar, or hybrid technologies to reach their goal. The record for the longest distance travelled is held by students from France's Polytech Nantes University, who designed a car that travelled almost 4900km. The Higher Colleges of Technology's Abu Dhabi Men's College took part in last year's Asian leg of the event in Malaysia, and will re-enter this year. In addition, the HCT's Al-Ruwais College will also take part, alongside the American University of Sharjah and American University of Dubai, according to the paper.