The boat is made of carbon fibre with an in-house designed propulsion system.
A hydrogen-powered energy boat built by ten students of the Kumaraguru Institute of Technology in Coimbatore has qualified for the finals of the renowned Monaco Energy Boat Challenge in Europe.
Made of carbon fibre with an in-house designed propulsion system, the boat can sail four hours or travel twenty-two nautical miles with a single unit of hydrogen.
C Swaminathan, a third-year engineering student says, "Hydrogen is an eco-friendly fuel system in India. It's common in Europe. In India, this is the first experiment".
Shri Sanjanaa, a second-year engineering student says, "The estimated cost of the project is Rs 60 lakh rupees. We've managed to get Rs 40 lakhs. We are trying to raise Rs 20 lakh by crowd funding."
The team informs that they worked for one year on campus and used a local lake for testing. Last year, they were ranked sixth in the same event. The team hopes for a podium finish this time as that would help them develop more sustainable mobility solutions from their innovation.
"We can use this technology on any kind of e-vehicles that promotes sustainability. It is a major green concept," said Hemalatha V, a second-year engineering student.
The team from Kumaraguru Institute of Technology is the only entry from India for this global competition. The competition is scheduled for the first week of July.