High school students design vehicle that gets 2,843.4 miles per gallon

[FourScore]

Mater Dei High School Breaks Mileage Record at 2008 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas
13 April 2008

Mater Dei High School team poses with their #22 car, right, which is the grand prize winner, registering 2,843.4 miles per gallon at the 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas. The team’s #21 car, left, placed third in the event. Click to enlarge.
Mater Dei High School of Evansville, Ind., set a new mileage record at the 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas—a challenge to design, build and test fuel-efficient prototype vehicles that travel the farthest distance using the least amount of fuel.

The Mater Dei Supermileage Team’s combustion-engine prototype vehicle achieved 2,843.4 miles per gallon, equivalent to 1,208.6 kilometers per liter. Despite wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour and various teams’s mechanical issues, three teams this year broke the 2007 mileage record set by Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

The 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas welcomed 32 teams from four high schools and 23 universities from Canada, Mexico and the US. The entries included 25 vehicles powered by combustion engines, four by fuel cell/hydrogen technology, one by diesel fuel, one by LPG (liquid petroleum gas) and two by solar power.

Category winners for the 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas include:

Grand Prize. With mileage of 2,843.4 mpg (1,208.6 kilometers per liter) the Supermileage Team from Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Ind. won a $10,000 grand prize with their vehicle, 6th Gen.

Combustion Engine. The 6th Gen vehicle from Mater Dei also took first place in this category with its 2,843.4 mpg (1,208.6 kilometers per liter) run.

Diesel. Eureka, Calif.,-based Diesel Corsair team placed first. The College of the Redwoods team achieved 304.5 mpg (129.4 kilometers per liter).

LPG. The Spartans from Schurr High School in Montebello, Calif., achieved 163.5 mpg (69.5 kilometers per liter) in their Mach 1 prototype vehicle.

Fuel Cell/Hydrogen. Penn State’s HFV Team from University Park, Pa., achieved 1,668.3 mpg (709.1 kilometers per liter) in its Blood, Sweat and Gears vehicle.

Solar. The Purdue Solar Racing team from West Lafayette, Ind., took first place with its solar vehicle Pulsar, which achieved 2,861.8 mpg (1,216.4 kilometers per liter).

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/04/mater-dei-high.html

[The Traveler]

1. Wow .. that is amazing!

Incredible.

[gatorboy]

2. Yeah but...The solar powered car achieved the most miles,

yet that mention is dropped to the bottom of the page!

[TriggerGal]

3. It was sponsored by Shell

not exactly like they'd give grand prize to vehicle that uses no petroleum!

[elizfeelinggreat]

17. they might copyright it

to keep anyone else from getting it

[Guaranteed]

4. NERDS! NERDS! NERDS!

[NickB79]

5. It's cool but not very practical

If you look at the picture on the link, the cars are basically nothing more than composite ribs wrapped with plastic to conserve every ounce of weight, and they don't drive any faster than a man can walk.

[slampoet]

6. True but increase performance and you get a car that goes......

....let's say 500 miles at 35 mph?



I'd buy that even if it were a deathtrap.

[PVnRT]

7. I can get close to that now in my Civic

(non-hybrid model)

[slampoet]

10. If you can get 500 miles per gallon in a Civic I have a book deal for you.

I will give you a $5000 advance personally.

[PVnRT]

13. Your post made it sound like a tank of gas, not per gallon

Try being clear next time.

[slampoet]

14. Read the whole instead of parts and I won't have to write special posts just for you.

[Nostradammit]

18. Jack must be awfully frustrated. n/t

[marshall]

8. Throw out all those safety devices and pollution controls and my car would get better gas mileage

But I do agree that current engine and body designs could be tweaked within limits to get far better mpg than we now get.

[twiceshy]

9. To me the real problem is one-size-fits-all roads

If you had a separate lane for ultralite powered and human-powered vehicles it would be much more sensible. As it is people need a big car/SUV to feel safe competing with trucks and insane people in Hummers.

[slampoet]

11. Truth.

[deadmessengers]

19. You COULDN'T buy that if it were a deathtrap

We've got laws to prevent car companies from selling anything that doesn't pass minimum safety standards.

[lonestarnot]

12. Geee you mean there are other ways rather than killing hundreds of thousands and occupation?

Yeah kids! :applause:

[Matariki]

15. The 2008 Shell Eco-marathon?

Shell? As in the oil company?

Are they sponsering this to find ideas to crush, or something?

[babydollhead]

16. kick