DNV Fuel Fighter is a small hydrogen powered car build by students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The project is the students’ Master thesis for the school year 2010/2011. DNV is the main sponsor of the NTNU team.

The two F´s stand for Fuel Fighter, but why a colibri? Nothing is included without purpose. The colibri is one of the most efficient birds in the world considering the transformation of energy. This can be related to the main principle behind the DNV Fuel Fighter. The birds flying abilities are unique among birds, and the DNV Fuel Fighter will be unique in the category Urban Concept, Shell Eco- marathon 2011.

“DNV’s vision is to make a global impact for a sustainable future. The DNV Fuel Fighter is a symbol of our dual efforts towards developing technologies and solutions for the new energy economy, as well as our firm belief in the further investment in human capital. Competent people is the most important resources we have, and we appreciate the cooperation with the students and the universities,” says President and CEO of DNV, Henrik O. Madsen.

The race
The principle of the Shell Eco-marathon is simple: to design and build a vehicle that uses the least amount of fuel to travel the farthest distance. Conventional fuels such as diesel, petrol/gasoline and liquid petroleum gas, as well as alternatives like GTL, solar, ethanol, hydrogen and biofuels can power the vehicles. The DNV sponsored car runs on hydrogen, and its ambition was to beat the current world record and win its category by driving at least 1000km on the energy equivalent of one litre of petrol.

The name “DNV Fuel Fighter” was suggested by DNV employee Milind Aundhkar, who won a trip to watch the race in Germany in 2009.

Cooperation with NTNU
DNV and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement in 2008. The agreement entails that DNV finance ten professorships and assist NTNU by providing guest speakers, contributing to student projects, such as the DNV Fuel Fighter, and providing professional collaboration on many levels.

This is the largest university agreement DNV has ever entered into.

An underlying reason for entering into the agreement with NTNU is the growing concern that politicians in Norway are overlooking technological and scientific studies.

“We recruit engineers from all over the world. China, India, Singapore and many other states with technological colleges and universities are beginning to lead the way in the most important subject areas. There are many other countries with fewer resources that put more emphasis on higher education and research than Norway,” says Henrik O. Madsen.

Some background history;
DNV employee, Milind Aundhkar, suggested the name “DNV Fuel Fighter” and won a trip to watch the race in Germany in 2009. In 2010 the car got an additional tagline to its name.

Towards a low carbon future were added to distinguish between previous results, new goals and visions for the project. The interest in the car and for the project was massive in 2010. The attention received from the media, the public and other Shell Eco-marathon participants was overwhelming. As a result of that, the DNV Fuel Fighters market value increased even further.

Unfortunately, last years team did not achieve the results they had wanted and hoped for, but they all confirmed that the learning outcome and experience was unique.

Therefore, the focus on revenge in this year's competition is reality. The team from NTNU, with support from DNV, work solution-oriented every day at their workshop in Trondheim with only one goal in sight: a new world record in 2011.