Shell Eco-Marathon Americas

I was in Houston last month and had the opportunity to see the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas. It's an international event that challenges students to build ultra-efficient cars. The rules are relatively simple and require that the cars travel a lengthy distance at no less than a roughly 15-mph average speed. Those that use the least amount of energy to do so win. So although these low-slung cars look fast, they're really never going much above 20-mph.

Teams are allowed to run a variety of fuel types, or with pure electricity, but the most common fuel is gasoline that's burning in a small single cylinder engine—many teams choosing to use a commonly available powerplant from a 50cc scooter. But they don't put-put-put all the way around; instead they run at full throttle, but only at distinct points on the track. The remainder of the lap is coasting, so for the driver it's about powering up any slight grade, and coasting down the back of it for as long as possible before firing the engine again. In this way they best make use of gravity's ever present pull. Speed up to 20-mph and coast back down to 10-mph.

Clearly the cars are built to be light and slip through the air. Invariable the smallest team member dictates the size of the Prototype cars. The car's body molded as tightly as possible. There is a second class however that requires a bit more practicality called Urban Concept. These look more comfortable, but aren't nearly as efficient; however they put a Smart car to shame.

How well do you think these cars sip fuel? The little pod from Laval Universite in Quebec, Canada (the white space pod above) did the best with 2,487.5 mpg. And the larger, less podish, Urban Prototype of High School team, Mater Dei from Evansville, Indiana did 437.2 mpg. Makes a Prius look a little silly doesn't it?

Mater Dei High School Urban Concept

Sean Coleman's Urban Concept Car. His computer design won the Autodesk Real World Challenge. As a reward Shell took his design and built an actual car. That's Sean driving with the Houston Mayor, Annise Parker, riding shotgun.

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