Quebecois College Students Build Car Capable of 2,713 Miles Per Gallon

Students from the Université Laval of Quebec won the the 11th annual Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition in Detroit for the second time in a row last month. The energy-efficient gasoline powered prototype managed an impressive 2713.1 miles per gallon on an internal combustion motor. However, the unit was only a two horsepower engine and spent the majority of its journey coasting at low speeds.

Encouraging automotive innovation should always be praised but, considering Shell’s guidelines for these events, one would hope for more. The competition has university students designing a prototype car using any combustible fuel, mainly gasoline or hydrogen, in an attempt to out-economy their rivals on a Michigan test course — which is great. The problem is the majority of these vehicles could be outperformed by a reasonably fit individual on a bicycle.

Shell states that the vehicles in the UrbanConcept category must be “roadworthy.” That equates to four wheels in permanent contact with the pavement and some vagaries about everyday drivability. But the ICE Prototype category, which Laval’s car occupies, is unburdened by practicality. There aren’t stringent guidelines on how these vehicles have to accomplish their run. Provided drivers can average 15 mph for six miles, they qualify. According to Business Insider, the winning team’s strategy involved accelerating to 20 mph and then coasting to around 9 mph before restarting the engine.

Those UrbanConcept vehicles aren’t exactly ready for the road either, though. The Mater Dei High School of Indiana cranked off an admirable 723.4 mpg with their Supermileage, but it’s still a tiny teardrop-shaped pod that would fail every single crash test thrown at it. And it’s the same for the battery-driven cars, they’re all about minimizing weight and drag but little else. However, we can’t fault the competitors for not bringing road-ready vehicles to a challenge where the objective is to increase efficiency by any means necessary.

If changes need to be made, it should be by Shell. Ideally, these vehicles would be forced to run a course that offered a more normal driving experience — perhaps with some firmer guidelines as to what qualifies as a “roadworthy” car. Starts and stops are a normal part of daily commuting, as are speeds in excess of 15 miles an hour. The standing rules don’t make the achievements of these teams any less impressive. But adding to them would serve to compare these prototype eco units to their real world counterparts and make the event a bit more exciting.

Laval’s Alérion Supermileage team will continue on to Shell Drivers’ World Championship Regional Final, which takes place in London at the end of May.

[Image: Alérion Supermileage Team]