The grand prize winning car of the 2008 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas achieved 2,843.4 mpg on a 10 mile drive around the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Congratulations to the team from Mater Dei High School team on their win, but is it really an eco-friendly achievement?

Technology

The cars in the gasoline class are achieving most of their performance through a combination of aerodynamic design, weight reduction and careful driving. Obviously, aerodynamics and careful weight management (for the car, not the driver!) are things that can be taken from the track into production cars. So, the skills these young automotive engineers in the making learn can be applied to the production cars of the future, making cars for everybody greener.

As for careful driving, at first glance that might not be something that is as simple for car manufacturers to control. The most significant trick that these drivers use though is that for most of the time around the track their cars are coasting; the engine is off. That trick is already being used by hybrid cars which shut off their engines when the car is stopped. If it can be done safely while cruising down the freeway as well, why not? Especially if there’s an instantly available electric engine in there too in case it is needed.

Odd

One odd thing about the event though: the press release lists the winning car in the solar class, from Purdue, as achieving 2,861.8 mpg. Assuming this car is a pure solar vehicle, it wouldn’t have used even a drop of fuel, so it would have an infinite mpg score! Also, last time I checked, 2,861.8 is higher than 2843.4 – so even assuming there is some logic behind this odd score, why didn’t the truly eco-friendly solar car win the grand prize?

Tags: eco-marathon, mater dei, shell, solar car

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