Euskelec 2023: electric vehicles made by vocational training students turn the San Mamés esplanade in Bilbao into a racetrack

• This Saturday, the San Mamés esplanade in Bilbao will host the circuit for the dynamic and efficiency tests to which the electric vehicles will be subjected
• The objectives of this initiative are to promote and encourage teamwork among students, as well as to base experimental and creative activity as a pedagogical element for the technical knowledge of electric vehicles
• In this new edition of Euskelec, a prototype of a hydrogen-powered vehicle, developed by FP-Euskadi, will be on display

The electric racing cars have returned to Bilbao, and we will see them circulating and competing on the San Mamés esplanade this Saturday. The Director of Technology and Advanced Learning of the Department of Education, Rikardo Lamadrid, and the Executive Director of Tknika (Basque VET Applied Research Centre) Jon Labaka, have witnessed this morning, next to the circuit specifically set up for this purpose, the development of the dynamic tests to which these electric vehicles made by the students of Vocational Training have been subjected.

The San Mames esplanade in Bilbao is today hosting the second phase of the Euskelec championship in which 20 teams from both the Basque Country and other autonomous communities are competing. In addition, two other teams are taking part as guests. After the technical checks that were carried out on Friday afternoon on all the participating vehicles, today the dynamic tests are taking place, with acceleration, braking, slalom and efficiency tests that the single-seaters made by the VET students have to undergo. The event, organised by Tknika (Basque VET Applied Research Centre, part of the Department of Education), seeks to recognise and highlight the work of vocational training students, as well as the support and involvement of their teachers and schools.

Euskelec

This is a competition that has already gained a firm place in the calendar, in which students from vocational training centres design and build an electric vehicle based on a common motor base (motor, motor controller and batteries). The aim of the event is to promote teamwork among the students, as well as to base the experimental and creative activity as a pedagogical element on the technical knowledge of electric vehicles.

Along these lines, it should be noted that the championship aims to be a platform for the training and promotion of technicians specialised in electric traction vehicles. But it also aims to promote experimentation with new manufacturing techniques and the use of new materials.

To this end, the championship of electric vehicles manufactured by vocational training students is divided into two phases: a technical and creative phase, for the presentation of the prototype; and a dynamic phase in which the performance, characteristics and design of the vehicles are evaluated by means of slalom, acceleration and maximum braking tests, among others.

• Phase 1: creative technical scope. This first phase took place on 18 May at the AIC Centre facilities in the Boroa Business Park in Amorebieta-Etxano. The participating teams made presentations of their projects and pre-verifications of the vehicles before a panel of judges (project report, design and innovation, among other issues).
• Phase 2: dynamic testing. This second phase is taking place today at the San Mamés esplanade in Bilbao. The teams will test their prototype on a circuit.

3 June: dynamic testing

The tests that the electric vehicles will undergo this Saturday, on a circuit specifically set up for the championship, are as follows:

• Braking: consists of stopping the car in the shortest possible distance running at least 20 km/hr.
• Acceleration: the time it takes the car to travel 60 metres from standstill is timed.
• Slalom: the time it takes the car to go around the slalom circuit is timed.
• Efficiency test: tests will assess the car capable of covering the longest distance in 60 minutes, with the same battery charge with which it started the dynamic tests. Each pass through the finish line will be counted, so that the team that passes through the finish line the most times (that does the most laps) will win.

Before starting the dynamic tests, all the single-seaters have undergone technical checks. These checks are eliminatory: a centre that does not comply with the regulations may be disqualified. At the end of these checks, their batteries are sealed to prevent them from being recharged. In this way, all the vehicles will have to undergo the tests throughout the day with a single battery charge.

In this edition, the circuit prepared next to San Mamés consists of ascents and descents, with an average gradient of 4%, reaching 8% in the steepest uphill area.

In Euskelec, the fastest vehicle does not necessarily win. Rather than speed (although this is also the case), aspects such as innovation, the methodological project developed by the team, sustainability and energy efficiency are also important.

The students of the Somorrostro Training Centre will be broadcasting the event live today, using 5G communication systems, by streaming on Youtube. To do this, they have deployed 6 cameras along the circuit in addition to six other cameras mounted on participating vehicles. They completed the broadcast with images captured by drone.

Focus also on hydrogen

As part of the line of work that Basque vocational training is developing in the field of alternative energies, a prototype hydrogen-powered vehicle developed by FP-Euskadi will also be on display this weekend, as well as two other commercial vehicles –also hydrogen-powered–, designed to train the Basque automotive sector in this field.