PERODUA ECO CHALLENGE 2011(ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION HAND-OVER)

Perodua has kicked off the third edition of its one-of-a-kind Eco-Challenge competition this year with the handing over one engine and one transmission system to each of the 13 participants from selected institutions of higher learning. The participating institutions, consisting of public and private higher education bodies, are selected based on their entry proposals; for this year’s event, 23 institutions sent in their proposals.

The main objective of the Perodua Eco-Challenge 2011 is to provide a training ground for undergraduates to challenge their engineering prowess and to promote innovativeness among local students.

“The Perodua Eco-Challenge is very unique because it not only promotes innovativeness and creativity from its participants but also underscores the importance of conservation by coming up with practical means to meet the growing energy crisis,” Perodua Managing Director, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said. He added that Perodua has allocated about RM1.2 million for this year’s Eco-Challenge programme.

Scene from a previous Perodua Eco-Challenge

The participants have five months after receiving the powertrain to produce a car that can go the furthest distance with just 1 litre of petrol. This is not just theoretical as their design will be run at the Melaka International Motorsports Circuit on June 25 this year to confirm the fuel efficiency.

Datuk Aminar said that the Perodua Eco-Challenge this year is different from the first two events whereby the contestants were only given the powertrain. For this year’s event, the company also provided ‘seed money’ to help the participants with the project, the amount being RM17,500 per car.

The participants are also given a longer contest period as the previous handovers were done in late February; this year, the contestants get an extra month to prepare before the race day.

“A total of RM77,000 has been allocated for this year’s Eco-Challenge prizes and the winning team will take home RM20,000. As this year’s challenge is more on engineering, the winners of this category will be taking home RM15,000; RM5,000 more than last year!” he said.