Blue Hornet to create buzz at Gandhi Walk

AUCKLAND PARK – The BMW Eco Team Pro has built a car that will join in the Gandhi Walk.

March 24, 2016

2 minutes read

The BMW Eco Team Pro celebrates the success of the BMW Blue Hornet. Photo supplied.

Gandhi walkers, who plan to participate in the 31st annual Gandhi Walk and Fun Run, can expect something different on the 6km route this year. The greenest vehicle on the African continent, powered solely by the sun and constructed by University of Johannesburg pupils, is confirmed to be at the start line.

In 2015, BMW South Africa entered into a sponsorship agreement with a team of pupils from the University of Johannesburg, creating the BMW Eco Team Pro. This team won the Shell Eco Marathon Challenge and is now the first Southern African team to be selected for the International Eco Marathon Challenge 2016 to be held in London later this year.

Project manager and primary driver Muhammad Moolla is a final year mechanical engineering science pupil and also a bursar at BMW SA. Moolla said the car, named the BMW Blue Hornet, achieved an astonishing result of 343.8km/kWh, allowing the BMW Eco Team Pro to be crowned the winners of the battery electric prototype category.

The Hornet is capable of travelling a distance of 343.8 km on just R1 of electricity. It is now the most efficient electric vehicle on the African continent and one of the top 10 most efficient electric vehicles in the world.

UJ pupil, race engineer and team leader, Khizar Sultan, will also be on hand at the Gandhi Walk to provide the driver with vital information and technical data throughout the walk to ensure an efficient drive on the day.

Sultan said, “The engineering knowledge that we have obtained thus far allows us, as student engineers, to approach problems in various ways which results in multi-lateral viable solutions.”

The Gandhi Walk Committee and Carlook’s Shabir Satar feels privileged to be able to bring the BMW Eco Team Pro to the 2016 walk. Gandhi Walk Chairman, Amit Parbhucharan, invites members of the community and especially aspiring youngsters to participate in the Gandhi Walk, to see the car and rally support for the

young UJ engineers who try to shine the spotlight on Africa.

The 31st annual Gandhi Walk & Fun Run will take place on 17 April and will start and finish at Gandhi Hall, Impala Crescent Ext 5, Lenasia.

Details: University of Johannesburg, 011 559 4555; Gandhi Walk, 011 907 9410.