The Erechim Campus team won the Prototype Internal Combustion category with a record of 556 km/l, expanding its track record of success in the energy efficiency competition.
The Drop Team, the energy efficiency team fromtheErechim campus of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), won its sixth national title in the Shell Eco-marathon Brazil and its fourth consecutive title on Thursday, August 27th. The team won the Prototype Internal Combustion (gasoline) category, achieving a record of 556 kilometers per liter (km/l).
This achievement extends a track record of success built over a decade of participation in the competition. Created in 2015, the Drop Team debuted in the Shell Eco-marathon Brazil in 2016. In 2017, it achieved third place with 240.3 km/l. The following year, it achieved its first national title with 424.9 km/l. In 2019, the team returned to win the Brazilian stage, with 542 km/l.
After the interruption of the competitions during the pandemic, the Drop Team returned to the Brazilian competition in 2022. In 2023, it won the title again and set the Brazilian record for the category, with 716 km/l, which remains the team's best performance in a national competition. In 2024, it won again, with 611 km/l, and in 2025, it achieved its fifth championship, with 699 km/l.
With the victory of 2026, the team completes a sequence of four consecutive national titles, solidifying its position as one of the most prominent teams in the competition in the country.
International track
The Drop Team also achieves significant results outside of Brazil. In its first participation in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas in 2019, the team won third place with 543 km/l. In 2024, it returned to the international podium, again in third place, with 706.5 km/l.
In 2025, the team achieved its best international result to date: second place in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas in Indianapolis, USA, with 629 km/l. On this occasion, the prototype evolved from 485 km/l in the first attempt to 629 km/l in the final, securing second place.
This achievement also qualified the Drop Team for the Shell Eco-marathon 2027 Global Championship, a new global championship to be held in Doha, Qatar.
IFRS was also represented by IFeco
In addition to the Drop Team, IFRS was represented in the 2026 edition by IFeco, fromCampusRio Grande. The team competed in the Prototype - Electric Battery category and finished the competition in sixth place, with a mark of 149 km/kWh.
About the competition
The Shell Eco-marathon challenges students to design, build, and operate energy-efficient vehicles, aiming to cover the greatest possible distance using the least amount of energy.
The 2026 Brazilian edition marked a decade of the competition in Brazil and brought together approximately 50 teams and more than 500 students from five countries. The competition took place from August 25th to 27th at Warehouse 4 of Pier Mauá, in Rio de Janeiro.
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IFRS teams enter the track at the 10th Shell Eco-marathon Brazil
Photos: Archives/Drop Team