The Shell Eco-marathon Global Rules, Chapter I, are updated every year and must be strictly adhered to by every participating team to design and build their cars for competitions. These global rules contain all the technical information, safety requirements and information on energy categories and vehicle types that teams must follow.

There are additional specific rules for each Shell Eco-marathon on-track competition, called Chapter II, which are published on the dedicated event pages. Eligibility to the competitions is related to the region where a team is located, as defined by the Organisers. A map with the split of the three Shell Eco-marathon regions is available for download below.