DTU Roadrunners

About DTU Roadrunners

How can we travel as far as possible using as little energy as possible?

In DTU’s Blue Dot project DTU Roadrunners, students develop innovative and energy-efficient transport solutions. Working in three multidisciplinary teams, they turn theory into practice by designing, building, and testing vehicles that optimize energy use.

As part of the project, each team develops a specific vehicle: the Ecocar team builds an energy-efficient car powered by ethanol and hydrogen, the Solarcar team develops a solar- and battery-powered car, and the FloatForward team constructs a battery-powered catamaran.

Each team represents DTU in three international competitions:

• Shell Eco-marathon Europe, where vehicles compete to travel the longest distance using the least amount of energy
• Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, where energy-efficient boats are evaluated on performance and sustainability
• iLumen European Solar Challenge, where solar cars are tested on efficiency and endurance

The project is part of DTU’s Blue Dot initiatives, where students work hands-on with innovation and solve real-world challenges.

Who can join?

DTU Roadrunners is open to all DTU students.

You can participate through the courses Ecocar Spring or Ecocar Fall, or by integrating the project into your Bachelor’s project or Master’s thesis.

What will you gain?

As part of DTU Roadrunners, you will work on solving a real-world engineering challenge – from concept and calculations to construction, testing, and optimization of fully functional vehicles.

You will build competencies in:

• Combustion engines and electric drivetrains
• Electrical design, thermodynamics, and transmission
• Vehicle design, construction, and testing
• Project management and interdisciplinary collaboration

You will also gain access to DTU’s experimental facilities, as well as guidance from DTU researchers.