Delsbo Electric

In 2019, the non-profit railway association Dellenbanans Vänner is organising the Delsbo Electric competition for the ninth time. The competition rules are simple. Participants must design and pilot a manned, rail-borne and battery-powered vehicle a distance of 3.36 km. The team that consumes the least energy wins.

Delsbo Electric always takes place during the last weekend in May. The competition day for 2019 is Saturday, May 25 and the finish line is at Delsbo station building. It is the final step of the students’ projects over the winter. From Thursday to Saturday morning, participants have the opportunity to test drive and fine-tune their vehicles.

In 2019-2021, Leader - Utveckling Hälsingebygden finances the development of Delsbo Electric

The project is being implemented in Hudiksvall Municipality within focus area 2 Research and Development. The EU part of the support is financed by the Rural Development Fund.

The purpose of Delsbo Electric's Leader project

To stimulate innovative transportation solutions in the world.
To collaborate with and facilitate the recruitment of skilled persons to the leader area's technology companies.
To create an increased interest in technology among children, young people and young adults.

Goals to achieve the purpose

Delsbo Electric is a meeting place for students, companies and research, where local and national companies have a unique opportunity to find future talent by encouraging students, presenting their business, and offering internships and degree projects. Within three years, 10 degree projects and 10 internships have been arranged.
Delsbo Electric is developing a 6-step technology trip to foster an increased interest in technology among children and young people.
Delsbo Electric is an attractive educational project where, within three years in the university class, 15 teams from 4 different countries participate, and in which new records and innovative solutions draw attention nationally and internationally.
Delsbo Electric is developed and implemented once a year and is a publicly attended and popular event with at least 1,500 visitors per year.

Delsbo Electric 2029

Delsbo Electric is an internationally renowned student competition, as well as a generous and fun meeting place centred around innovation and energy efficiency for students, companies, children and decision-makers. 1,800 graduate engineering students in Sweden and abroad look back on their participation as one of the most educational, fun and enjoyable things they did during their education.

Delsbo Electric is an important, incorporated component of our partners' recruitment processes. The companies are involved in developing Delsbo Electric. Five national / international companies are the main sponsors of Delsbo Electric.

4,000 children and young people from the region have participated in Delsbo Electric’s Technology trip. Delsbo Electric inspires more young people than ever in Hälsingland to apply for technical education programmes in upper secondary school. Delsbo Electric's competitive operations and technology trip provide a total of two full-time jobs, and the interest in working as competition officials is great. Prepared, permanent premises are available for the technology trip.

With their profile of energy efficiency and experiments, Delsbo Station and Delsbo Electric have provided Hälsingland's tourism industry with another unique destination.

In Delsbo, we have the perfect conditions for a highly interesting international student challenge. We have a normal-track railway waiting to become a test bed and development arena for tomorrow's energy-efficient passenger transportation.

It started with a desire to showcase the energy efficiency of railway travel

9 km on a simple flashlight battery

The non-profit association Dellenbanans Vänner has been working for 34 years to get the electrified railway between Hudiksvall and Ljusdal back and running with passenger and freight trains..

As part of the association's work, a competition was arranged in 2002 for small, unmanned battery-powered rail vehicles. The purpose was to draw the attention of decision-makers and the general public to the energy efficiency and environmental friendliness of electric rail traffic. The winning crew managed to drive over 9 km on a simple 1.5 V flashlight battery..

In 2010, we resurfaced the idea again with a higher level of ambition. The vehicles were to be manned and the energy efficiency was measured in "kilowatt hours per passenger kilometre". The same measurements are used for comparison between different traffic types. Above all, it is used to show how much more energy-efficient rail-borne public transport is compared to cars, buses and planes. Trams are most energy-efficient and are considered to have an energy consumption of only about 0.07 kWh/passenger kilometre (or 70 Wh/passenger kilometre). The 2019 winner of Delsbo Electric consumed 0.63 Wh/passenger kilometre..

Håkan Blanks "Pipe Sensation"

Aluminium, plant sticks and blind cords

In 2002, the only requirement was that the vehicles roll on both rails. The goal was to drive as far as possible on a 1.5 volt flashlight battery..

There was a lot of speculation before the race. Some thought it would not work at all, while others predicted distances of up to two kilometres. Of the three participating vehicles, Håkan Blank's "Pipe Sensation" proved to be outstanding. The small vehicle, built of aluminium, plant sticks and blind cords, went all the way to the exiting railroad switch of the station and had to be turned manually. Then it continued to the other end of the railway yard, where it had to be turned again. And so on...

Inspector Peter Bäckström dutifully walked beside the vehicle, back and forth across the yard. After about twenty turns, the audience began to leave. Finally, after two hours and a total of 9,221 metres, the vehicle lost its steam. The following year, Håkan improved his record during a show run, to 11,362 metres.