2,757 miles per gallon?

April 22, 11:51 PMLA Alternative Transportation ExaminerMatt Kelly

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Sound impossible? Not if you're an Eco Marathoner.

Congratulations go out to the student-led Alerion Supermileage team from Laval University in Quebec, Canada for achieving the fuel milestone and winning the Grand Prize during the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas, a competition pitting student-built, fuel-efficient prototype vehicle achieves against each other to travel the farthest distance using the least amount of fuel.

The challenge is one of distance, not speed.

“We knew coming into the challenge this year that we would have a lot to go up against,” said David Vallée of Laval University. “But we had confidence in our vehicle and all the hard work that had gone into building it over the past year. We’re just excited the long hours paid off and we were able to win the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas!”

But 2,757 mpg was not the highest mileage acheived by one of these remarkable wizards.

The Purdue Solar Racing team from Purdue University took first place with its solar vehicle, Pulsar, which achieved 4,913 mpg.

Impressive.

44 teams including six high schools and 29 universities from North and South America, participated in both the Prototype or UrbanConcept categories. Prototype teams entered futuristic, streamlined vehicles focused on maximizing fuel efficiency through innovative design elements, such as drag reduction.

For the UrbanConcept category, teams entered more “roadworthy” fuel-efficient vehicles aimed at meeting the real-life needs of drivers and are closer in appearance to the cars seen on roads today.

In both categories, teams could use any conventionally available energy source – including diesel, gasoline and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), as well as alternative fuels such as hydrogen, biomass and solar.  

“The Shell Eco-marathon is a platform for students to let their imaginations run wild,” said Mark Singer, global project manager for the Shell Eco-marathon. “By encouraging these students to build vehicles with greater energy efficiency, we hope this will help inspire others; and together we can find solutions that will help meet the global energy challenge.”

The Prototype entries included 28 vehicles powered by combustion engines, five by fuel cell/hydrogen technology, three by LPG, three by solar power, and two by diesel fuel. The UrbanConcept entries included two vehicles powered by combustion engines and one by solar power

Category winners included a special “Eco-Design Award” presented to the UCLA team for their Prototype concept, whose design not only contributed to the fuel efficiency of their vehicle, but incorporated recycled and eco-friendly materials into the vehicle and production process.

The 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas event sponsors included Autodesk, Michelin, Pennzoil and SKF USA Inc.