Eco-car a star

A little eco-car from Canterbury University has won a major international design excellence award.

The car, designed and built by a team of eight engineering students, gained the prestigious Design Award at the Asian leg of the Shell Eco-Marathon in Singapore on Sunday, Stuff says.

Judges say its build quality is the best they have ever seen.

It’s a happy end to a disappointing day for the team EnduroKiwis, because again technical troubles prevented it from success on the track, Stuff reports.

The team was running fourth but in the final, when the car running second or third, the little red battery-electric overheated and could not finish.

Shortly after, the EnduroKiwis won the design award.

“The EnduroKiwis team won for producing a car that brought fresh thinking about recyclability to the competition,” judges say.

“By entering a car largely made of a common thermoplastic, the team showed a refreshing and holistic approach to design – it chose a material that was easy to work with, light, low-cost, and easy to re-use.”

They say the car’s design paid due care to driver safety and comfort, and the car itself was commendably well finished and built to the highest standard seen by the judges.