Team H2politO back on the podium at the Shell Eco Marathon Europe & Africa 2026
Once again, Politecnico's Team H2politO – made up of 34 university students – brought its vehicles to the podium at the Shell Eco Marathon Europe & Africa 2026, held for the second year running at the Silesia Ring circuit in Kamień Śląski, Poland, from 24 to 28 June.
128 student teams from top European universities and technical institutes competed in the annual "energy efficiency" race, where the winner is whoever consumes the least, not whoever finishes first.
The vehicles, divided into two categories, Prototypes and Urban Concept, competed on the track to achieve the best consumption across 6 available runs, with performance measured in km/kWh, km/m³ or km/L depending on the propulsion type (battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell or internal combustion engine). The race was originally set at 11 laps of the track, covering roughly 15 km, to be completed within a maximum of 35 minutes; however, due to exceptionally high temperatures (which exceeded 40°C), the judges opted to reduce it to 7 laps, to be completed within a maximum of 22 minutes.
Team H2politO's medal haul grew with three significant results: third place in the hydrogen fuel cell Prototype category with IDRAzephyrus, which recorded a consumption of 812 km/m³; fourth place in the bioethanol-powered internal combustion Urban Concept category with JUNO, achieving 237 km/L in the Mileage Competition; and third place in the Autonomous Driving category, once again with the Urban Concept JUNO.
The IDRAzephyrus prototype, a carbon fiber monocoque weighing just 32 kg, underwent significant technical development this year across the vehicle's key systems. The steering and several mechanical components were redesigned to reduce mass and improve cornering stability, while a new aerodynamic configuration at the rear of the vehicle helped boost overall efficiency and improved the fuel cell's performance, thanks to carefully engineered air intake ducts. At the same time, the team developed a new generation of electronic boards and refined its vehicle dynamics and telemetry simulation models. Bringing all these innovations together significantly increased energy efficiency, improving on IDRAzephyrus's results from last year and confirming its strong reliability on track.
The Urban Concept ICE JUNO, a carbon fiber monocoque powered by a 50cc bioethanol internal combustion engine, also faced a double challenge and delivered strong results, competing simultaneously in the Mileage and Autonomous Driving competitions. Despite the complexity of managing both events in parallel, the vehicle confirmed the team's strong growth trajectory, achieving major improvements in both competitions.
In the energy efficiency race (Mileage), JUNO significantly improved its performance, going from 199 km/L last year to 237 km/L this year.
The team also achieved excellent results in the Autonomous Driving competition, which was structured around a course split into three main sections: two dedicated to Path Planning, separated by a stop line where the vehicle had to come to a complete stop and restart autonomously, followed by a third section dedicated to Obstacle Avoidance. Thanks to the navigation algorithms developed by the team, JUNO successfully completed the first two sections, eventually stopping at the start of the third due to the obstacles' positioning along the course.
Adding to the result, the Business Presentation final earned praise from the judges, who expressed strong appreciation for the team's growth, project maturity and ongoing technical development over the years.
"This achievement at the Shell Eco-Marathon 2026 rewards months of sacrifice and the dedication of every single team member," comments Pietro Casarano, Team Leader of Team H2politO. "Seeing a group of students working together to design technologies capable of taking on Europe's leading academic institutions was an incredible feeling. We showed, on the track, just how much teamwork and the ingenuity that grows at Politecnico di Torino are worth".
"Student participation in teams like H2PolitO is a key added value in engineering education," adds Professor Massimiliana Carello, the team's academic supervisor. "It's a concrete example of experiential learning, where education goes beyond theory and develops through design, experimentation and engagement with real-world problems. Working in an international, competitive environment allows students to strengthen both technical and transferable skills, while also building independence, collaborative ability and design awareness".