Cal Poly Supermileage Vehicle Again a Top Eco-Marathon Finisher
Cal Poly placed near the top at this year’s Shell Eco-Marathon Americas competition of high-mileage, fuel-saving prototype vehicles, coming in as the returning champion and taking second place with 2,752.3 miles per gallon.
Cal Poly’s Supermileage Team placed between first and third place finisher Mater Dei High School from Evansville, Ind. Mater Dei’s first place and third place cars reached 2,843.4 mpg and 2,383.8 mpg respectively.
The controversial ranking was aided by two windy days that helped propel the Mater Dei vehicles. In fact, the vehicles clocked over 6,000 mpg on some track runs without having to turn on their engines, although those runs were disqualified.
“We wish it hadn’t been so windy,” said Cal Poly Team Leader David Ulrich. “We definitely feel we would have taken the race otherwise.” The competition took place April 11-12 at the California Speedway track in Fontana, Calif.
Shell Eco-Marathon Americas is a three day event consisting of vehicle inspection and competition. The race comprised seven laps with a total distance of 9.7 miles to be completed under 38 minutes and 50 seconds. The minimum average speed was 15 miles per hour.
Cal Poly’s Supermileage Team performed “coast and burns,” using only the engine two to three times to accelerate and then coast up to a mile. This method was used on the first day before competition to find what points of the winding track would be most effective to accelerate. Judges carefully measure fuel before and after a car competes.
This year’s competition consisted of 27 teams from four high schools and 23 universities from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The test vehicles were powered by combustion engines, fuel cell/hydrogen technology, diesel fuel, liquid petroleum gas and solar power.
With a new top and hardware, Cal Poly’s car, Black Widow, was an improved version of the 92-pound vehicle used last year to win with an impressive 1,902.7 mpg. The Supermileage Team has been working on Black Widow since September 2007.
The Supermileage Team was started by seven students four years ago. It currently has 14 members total, 12 whom attended the competition this year.