Greek team develops electric vehicle that get from London to Amsterdam for less than 0.2 euros

The idea of a vehicle that can cover the miles from London to Amsterdam while using less than 0.2 euros in fuel sounds like science fiction. The research team Prometheus, from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is close to making it a science fact, however, through the development of the ultra-light experimental electric vehicle "Pyrforos II".

Developed for the Shell Eco-Marathon 2019 that will be held in London in July, under the aegis of the European Commission, the Pyrforos II has a low-weight and high-resilience aluminium chassis, a fiberglass body and a specially designed electric propulsion system that can move it at impressively cheap rates.

With a motor powered by the Pyrforos lithium-ion batteries developed by Prometheus at NTUA, the car is fully ready for the 2019 fuel economy marathon and the team is confident.

"We are fully responsible for designing, testing and building advanced high-efficiency electric vehicles," said the NTUA students, noting that the final product was the result of good planning and cooperation. The car was designed and built by candidate lecturers and students at NTUA and has undergone countless tests, during which its designers collected data from test runs and races to improve or resolve any problems that arose.

A main sponsor of the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), which is part of the NTUA's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is the Association of Photovoltaics Energy Producers, whose president Stelios Loumakis said: "We support the NTUA's efforts and the electric vehicle. This is a sector with a future throughout the world. In Greece and in the world, there has to be an increase in the amount of energy that comes from renewable energy sources.

Loumakis sees Greece adopting electric transport after 2025, in seven years time, and noted that charging infrastructure would start to appear once more drivers had electric cars. "Today the figures that are given by companies that make electric vehicles are fictional, since autonomy depends on a number of conditions, as well as the way that we drive. The batteries need to be improved so that each driver can have greater autonomy in any conditions. Everything depends on the battery. This is also one of the main reasons why the cost of electric vehicles rises," he added.