BMW Eco Team Pro wins the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Challenge.

BMW Eco Team Pro wins the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Challenge.

• BMW S outh Africa sponsors University of Johannesburg students to participate in the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Challenge.
• BMw team to participate in the 2016 shell eco-marathon International race in london.
• Team driver to join the BMW Graduate Programme in 2016.

Midrand – As part of its ongoing commitment to Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (MST), BMW South Africa supported a team of students from the University of Johannesburg to participate in the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Challenge. The BMW-supported team (BMW Eco Team Pro) won the challenge last weekend and will participate in the 2016 shell eco-marathon International Race in London.

Hosted by the School of Electrical Engineering from the University of Johannesburg, the competition brought together over 100 young engineers from South Africa and Nigeria. The competition challenges student teams around the world to design, build and drive the most energy-efficient cars. Over the past weekend, the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon South Africa came to Johannesburg with the ultimate-energy-efficiency challenge.

“At BMW, we believe that a consistent focus on sustainable innovations and technologies is the key to future success. This is why we have decided to support these creative students. The project resonates very well with our BMW i brand, which is all about visionary electric vehicles and mobility services, inspiring design as well as a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability,” says Bongani Mshibe, External Affairs and Government Relations Manager at BMW Group South Africa.

The winning team designed the Blue Hornet, a prototype vehicle powered by an electric battery. With the aerodynamic body comprising a drag coefficient of 0.072 and a body mass of 8kg, an aerodynamic power of 9.44W was achieved by the Blue Hornet.

The BMW Eco Team Pro considered all factors to achieve the furthest possible distance travelled on an equivalent of one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy. With an astonishing result of 343.8 km/kWh, the BMW Eco Team Pro won in the battery electric prototype category. The BMW Blue Hornet holds the capacity to travel a distance of 343.8 km on just R1 of electricity. The car is now the most efficient electric vehicle on the African continent and one of the top 10 most efficient electric vehicles globally.

The winning team consists of students in the fields of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Accounting and Optometry. In May 2016, the team will travel to London to participate in the International Race against 200 teams.

“We are also proud of the fact that the driver of the Blue Hornet, Muhammed Moolla, is a BMW bursar and will join the BMW Graduate Programme in 2016 at Plant Rosslyn in Pretoria,” Mshibe adds. Moola is currently a final year Mechanical Engineering student at UJ.

The BMW Eco Team Pro is one of three sponsored teams by BMW South Africa. The remaining two sponsored teams (Endeavour and G.E.A.R.S), also from UJ, were placed second and third.

For more information on the Shell Eco-marathon Challenge, visit

http://www.shell.com/global/environment-society/ecomarathon/events/south-africa.html

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For queries on this media release, please contact BMW South Africa’s Group Communications Division as follows:

Mr Edward Makwana

Manager: Group Automotive Communications

BMW Group South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Tel: +27-12-522-2227

Mobile: +27-83-717-3184

Email: edward.makwana@bmw.co.za

The BMW Group

With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2014, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.118 million cars and 123,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2014 was approximately € 8.71 billion on revenues amounting to € 80.40 billion. As of 31 December 2014, the BMW Group had a workforce of 116,324 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

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