Ecogenium

Regional winner of Electric Vehicle Battery Charging Challenge with Shell Recharge

Learn how the Ecogenium team’s mobility app intends to improve long-distance journeys for electric vehicle users.

Team Ecogenium : Pitch the Future | Shell Eco-marathon

Title: Session #11 - Ecogenium

Duration: 1:57 minutes

Description:

Pitch the Future is an all-new virtual competition that challenges Shell Eco-marathon teams from around the world to tackle four real-world energy challenges.

Ecogenium Team Germany outline some of their challenges and drivers behind their project to optimise rechargeable battery technology for the lifetime, not just for a journey.

Session #11 - Ecogenium Transcript

[Background music plays]

Rhythmic, upbeat music.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind inset videos of video call participants.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 1]

Hi!

[Text displays]

Hi!

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young woman talking to camera.

[Young woman 1]

We are

[Text displays]

We are

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young woman talking to camera.

[Young woman 2]

Ecogenium

[Text displays]

Ecogenium

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 2]

Team

[Text displays]

team!

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the video insets of the five video call participants.

[Video footage]

Five video insets of the five video call participants waving, smiling, at the camera.

[Animation]

Yellow, light-blue, grey and turquoise vertical bars slide right, across the screen. The turquoise bar fills the screen, five curved lines of pale blue dots appear as text appears. The text and dots then flip forward and disappear.

[Text displays]

Pitch the Future, Electric Mobility – Long Distance Travel with Electric Vehicles with Shell Recharge

[Animation]

The text appears to slide down out of the middle of the screen. The waves of blue dots reappear, moving in a slow undulating manner behind the text.

[Text displays]

Ecogenium Team Germany

[Animation]

Yellow, light-blue, grey and turquoise vertical bars slide right across the screen. Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man wearing a headset, talking to camera.

[Young man 3]

We are actually a really, really young team.

[Text displays]

We are actually a really, really young team.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 1]

It was a pretty unique start, and we actually had our first

[Text displays]

It was a pretty unique start and we actually had our first

[Video footage]

Back to the five video insets of the five video call participants.

[Young man 1]

Really general team meeting in the beginning of September

[Text displays]

really general team meeting in the beginning of September

[Still footage]

A still image of seven young people standing about or sitting in a paved area next to a brick wall. Slow, small zoom in on the image. The sides of the image are blurred.

[Video footage]

Five video insets of the five video call participants.

[Young man 1]

Under a pedway, because it was raining, always abiding

[Text displays]

under a pedway, because it was raining, always abiding

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of Young Man 1 talking to camera.

[Young man 1]

By the corona regulations and everything.

[Text displays]

by the corona regulations and everything.

[Still footage]

A series of photos of ethnically diverse people, both men and women, from the waist up, facing camera. The side panels of the images are blurred.

[Young man 1]

We’re also a fairly diverse team.

[Text displays]

We’re also a fairly diverse team.

[Still footage]

The series of photos of ethnically diverse people, both men and women, from the waist up, facing camera, continues. The side panels of the images are blurred.

[Young man 1]

We have a lot of members from a lot of different cultures and walks of life.

[Text displays]

We have a lot of members from a lot of different cultures and walks of life.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset video-call participant videos.

[Video footage]

Back to the five video insets of the five video call participants.

[Young man 1]

In fact, a member on this call right now

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

In fact, a member on this call right now

[Video footage]

Two young people in a small room, donning surgical masks. The young man and woman, now accompanied by a second young woman, walk across a terrace strewn with autumn leaves. In the far distance are low, rolling hills.

[Young man 1]

Even has his own bubble tea shop in Indonesia.

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

even has his own bubble tea shop in Indonesia.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the five video call participants.

[Video footage]

Back to the five video insets of the five video call participants. One of the young men cringes and laughs.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the video-call participants.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young woman talking to camera.

[Young woman 1]

Our Pitch the Future idea as a one-liner is

[Text displays]

Our Pitch the Future idea as a one-liner is:

[Graphic]

A green block on a black background. In the block are two blue-and-white lollipop symbols and a blue power plug with a white lightning bolt on it.

[Text]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

CharGo

Quotation marks, Optimize For The Lifetime, Not Just For A Journey, quotation marks

Optimise for the lifetime, not just for a journey.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset video.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 2]

Pitch the Future is important for us as a team just because we had to solve a challenge

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

Pitch the Future is important for us as a team just because we had to solve a challenge

[Video footage]

Camera pans rapidly skyward from street-level view of a small town car in front of an apartment block.

[Young man 2]

To bring a better future for the environment, for our earth.

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

to bring a better future for the environment, for our Earth.

[Video footage]

Stop-motion footage of a small plastic toy car moving across a computer-generated map from Buckingham Palace in London to Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula, Brussels. The map shows the route and journey time, including number of tolls. A large charging battery symbol appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. The colours change from red, orange and finally to green.

[Young man 2]

It’s definitely a very important thing for us.

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

It’s definitely a very important thing for us.

[Video footage]

Interior footage of a young man and woman seated in a car. The woman passenger looks at her phone. The young man looks out his driver-side window at a smiling young woman walking along the pavement on the opposite side of the road.

[Young woman 2]

The biggest challenge for us is the lack of time.

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

The biggest challenge for us is the lack of time,

[Video footage]

View through car windscreen as the car approaches a Shell service station. Ground-level front view of the car turning into a parking spot in the service station forecourt. The car’s emblem is blurred.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the five video call participants

[Video footage]

Back to the screen with the five video screen insets of each of the five young people. Young Woman 2 is talking directly to camera.

[Young woman 2]

And some of us had exams, and we had new courses.

[Text displays]

and some of us had exams and we had new courses.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset video.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of the young woman talking to camera from her home office.

[Young woman 2]

Yeah, we managed to pull through.

[Text displays]

Yeah, we managed to pull through.

[Animation]

Light-blue, grey, turquoise and yellow horizontal bars slide upward across the screen, swallowing the video. The yellow bar fills the screen, five curved lines of pale grey dots appear as text appears word by word, growing in size till all are equal size. The text and dots then flip forward and disappear.

[Text displays]

What has your team learned?

[Animation]

Light-blue, grey, turquoise and yellow horizontal bars slide upward across the screen, revealing the video with blue, grey and yellow gears behind it.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera from his home office.

[Young man 1]

So we learned a lot about batteries.

[Text displays]

So we learned a lot about batteries.

[Text displays]

Asterisk, Team Pitch Video

I think we can safely say that a lot of us are now battery experts

[Video footage]

Three young people alighting from a vehicle in the woods. The vehicle’s emblem is blurred. Extreme close-up as the camera angle travels along a pair of hands holding a charging cable to a charge-point. A blue light is lit up on the charge-point.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the five video call participants.

[Video footage]

Back to the screen with the five video screen insets of each of the five young people. Young Man 1 is talking directly to camera.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset video.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 1]

But the other thing, we really learnt how to work together as a team.

[Text displays]

But the other thing, we really learned how to work together as a team.

[Animation]

[Text displays]

Why are you proud of your team?

[Animation]

Light-blue, grey, turquoise and yellow horizontal bars slide upward across the screen, revealing the video with blue, grey and yellow gears behind it.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 2]

We are proud of our team’s achievement

[Text displays]

We are proud of our team’s achievement

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the five video call participants.

[Video footage]

Back to the screen with the five video screen insets of each of the five young people. Young Man 2 is talking directly to camera.

[Young man 2]

And, also, I believe, of ourselves, is because the fact that we came from different backgrounds

[Text displays]

and also I believe of ourselves is because the fact that we came from different backgrounds,

[Still footage]

A man with his back to the camera at a desk against a padded white wall, two computer monitors in front of him. Small, slow zoom in on the image. The side panels of the screen are blurred.

[Young man 2]

Struggling in one of the hardest universities in Germany

[Text displays]

struggling in one of the hardest universities in Germany,

[Still footage]

Side view of the man at a desk against a padded white wall, concentrating on the laptop screen in front of him. Small, slow zoom in on the image. The side panels of the screen are blurred.

[Young man 2]

Stress due to the current corona situation

[Text displays]

stress due to the current corona situation

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset video.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 2]

And, above all, we are a freshly formed team.

[Text displays]

and above all we are a freshly formed team.

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the five video call participants.

[Video footage]

Back to the screen with the five video screen insets of each of the five young people. Young Man 2 is talking directly to camera.

[Young man 2]

But despite all that, the team still thrived.

[Text displays]

But despite all that, the team still thrived.

[Animation]

Yellow, light-blue, grey and turquoise vertical bars slide right, across the screen, swallowing the video. The turquoise bar fills the screen, five curved lines of pale blue dots appear as text appears. The vertical bars of colour slide to the right, swallowing the text and revealing the yellow, grey and blue gears behind the video inset of a young woman talking to camera.

[Text displays]

Pitch the Future

[Animation]

The vertical bars of colour slide to the right, swallowing the text and revealing the yellow, grey and blue gears behind the video inset of a young woman talking to camera.

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young woman talking to camera.

[Young woman 1]

This is our team motto

[Text displays]

This is our team motto...

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 1]

We are

[Text displays]

We are

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young woman talking to camera.

[Young woman 2]

Presenting

[Text displays]

presenting

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 2]

To you

[Text displays]

to you

[Video footage]

Head-and-shoulders view of a young man talking to camera.

[Young man 2]

The future

[Text displays]

the future!

[Animation]

Blue, grey and yellow gears turning behind the inset videos of the five video call participants.

[Video footage]

Five video screen insets of each of the five young people, waving, smiling, at the camera.

[Audio]

Shell jingle

[Graphic]

Shell Pecten centred on a background of blue, grey and yellow turning gears.

[Text]

Hashtag, MakeTheFuture

[Text]

Hashtag, ShellEcoMarathon

CharGo

To optimise the journey of an electric vehicle (EV) between London and Moscow, the Ecogenium team designed a mobile app with navigation and user enjoyment at its core.

With the understanding that there are certain ways to extend traditional battery life, the app – CharGo – is built on the back of an algorithm that aims to use these practices to extend EV battery lifetime for as long as possible. Doing so not only helps to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the EV but can also lower maintenance costs.

To achieve this, the app finds the most battery efficient route for the EV as opposed to the shortest or fastest route, as conventional navigation software often does. It also asks users to input various data points, including:

Vehicle make and model – to help base routes on published battery ranges
Tolerance level – to determine the lowest level that the battery may safely fall to
Endcharge – to identify the maximum battery charge per cycle
Supercharging preference – to understand whether users prefer supercharging
Journey requirements – to specify whether certain cities should be included in the route

Using this information, the app calculates the route that best allows for the battery to be protected over the long term, thus delaying the need for battery replacement. This is particularly important for the environment, since the team identify lithium mining and manufacturing as the two areas where most CO₂ emissions are generated during the battery lifecycle.