Every year, Shell organizes an EcoMarathon, where the aim is to run a vehicle as far as possible on a single liter of gasoline. While the first target in 1977 was 680 km (something like 1634 mpg), recent winning vehicles could (at least theoretically) drive from Paris to Beijing on about a gallon of gasoline. The next EcoMarathon will be held in Nogaro, France.

One of the teams, made up of students from the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, contacted us to showcase their entry: the EcoCustom. The most evident innovation is how "conventional-looking" the car is, but last year they still managed a test result of 385 km on a single liter (925 mpg). The team expects to surpass the 500 km/l figure for the next competition, to keep CO₂ emissions at minimum.

What are they using? The base engine is a 4-stroke Honda GX 35 on an aluminium frame (or titanium if budget allows it) with synthetic fabric body. It's got lightweight rims, double circuit brakes, transmission, steering, electrics, telemetry and high-speed bearings. Good luck!


[Source: Ecocustom]

click to enlarge

And here I thought 1,902.7 mpg was a lot. That was the winning rating at last year's Shell Eco-Marathon Americas coutresy of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. This year, three teams had a higher mpg score in the event this weekend, and it was the students from Mater Dei High School from Evansville, Indiana who coasted away winners with a mpg rating of 2,843.4 in their #22 vehicle (on the right side in the image above). Mater Dei's second vehicle (#21, on the left) came in third overall. Teams from both universities and high schools competed and Mater Dei took home the $10,000 grand prize.

As you can see in the list of teams that competed in the event, combustion engines far outnumbered other powerplants (six fuel cell, one LPG, one diesel, and two solar cars also competed) and, indeed, Mater Dei's #22 was a combustion-engine prototype vehicle. Details on the top results from the alternative powerplants are available after the jump, but here are the numbers: diesel got 304.5 mpg, LPG made 163.5 mpg, fuel cell/hydrogen made 1,668.3 mpg and solar got 2,861.8 mpg. That higher mpg number wasn't enough to win the competition because fuel economy wasn't the only category that counted toward the final score.

Last year, Cal Poly (ok, ok, California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo) won the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas with an astounding 1,902.7 mpg score. For 2008, 34 teams will compete at the California Speedway event in April. Last week, Shell-Pennzoil driver Kevin Harvick was at the speedway with some of those winning Cal Poly students to talk about defending their title. The picture above shows Harvick and the students checking out last year's winning vehicle. We don't have too long to wait to see who - if anyone - will beat last year's record. The 2008 Eco-Marathon takes place April 10-13.

UPDATE: Harvick's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this post. Thanks to jzj.

[Source: Shell]

Do you remember when we ran an article about the Shell Eco-marathon? Does the sound of 6,792 miles per gallon jog your memory? Think that's high? That can't hold a candle to the all-time record of 10,705 miles per gallon set in 2003! That kind of mileage is impressive, even if the vehicles used to record such astounding numbers are very small and can seat only one person. Not surprisingly, as you can see from some of our pictures, women are often the drivers, as they often weigh less that us guys, and every little bit helps. Here is a link to our gallery from last year, and here is a link to a sneak peek at some of the newest entrants for this years competition. We'll be sure to keep you updated as the results.

[Source: Shell and The Eureka Reporter]

The all-time highest mpg (equivalent) rating achieved at a Shell eco-marathon is 10,705 miles per gallon. That record was set in 2003 at the European Shell Eco-marathon. The Shell Eco-marathon returns to the United States next month and will see students try to squeeze every last centimeter out of the fuel with ultra-aerodynamic, lightweight body coffins. The event kicks off April 14 at the California Speedway in Fontana, California and will feature student teams from across the Americas. The UC Berkeley team is seen above and in the gallery.

The vehicles in the competition have three or four wheels and can use conventional fuels or alternative fuels/sources of energy (liquid petroleum gas, biofuels, compressed natural gas, hydrogen or solar) and are vying for a $10,000 grand prize (given to the winning school). Whoever goes the farthest on the least amount of fuel wins. More after the jump.



Related:

• European Shell Eco-Marathon contestant hits 6785 mpg
• Hypermiling update: Shell Eco-Marathon coming back to the U.S. next year

[Source: Ashley Heather / Shell]

The annual Shell Eco-Marathon is a competition designed to find the entrant whose car achieves the maximum fuel economy after driving 40 minutes and completing seven laps around the track at a minimum of 15 mph. Cars can run on gasoline, diesel, LPG, or hydrogen. This year's UK event was held at the Rockingham Speedway.

Most of the entrants are ultra-aerodynamic, bizarrely-shaped creations that look like something out of a sci-fi picture. In this year's event, there was an exception, however. Caterham Cars partnered with Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS) and entered a specially-prepared Caterham Seven they called the 2R in the competition.

The 2R was completely production based, and ran on a stock 120-horsepower 1.6L K-Series engine from the company's Roadsport model. The only changes made for the challenge were the fitment of a new aerodynamic body, a lighter seat and narrow-width low-resistance rolling stock. Careful, economical driving techniques would be used by its pilot to squeeze the maximum fuel efficiency out of the engine.

The internal goal the team set for themselves was 100 mpg. The Caterham 2R did better than expected, achieving 131 mpg. Not bad for a lightweight sports car designed to be flung about the track with abandon. Especially considering that this particular Seven is basically a wheel/tire change away from doing so, even in its so-called Eco trim.

(Press release after the jump)

[Source: Caterham Cars]