‘Miles per Gallon’ has become a very essential phrase in the modern auto world with more and more cars and company’s competing in the category for the top honors. Of course when it comes to sheer setting of records, commercial cars come nowhere in sight and are left far behind by prototypes that are made by students and companies for races. The point is that commercially speaking we are a long, long way away from achieving that 1000 miles per gallon goal. Just a month back I did write about ‘Miles per Burrito’ and that was damn fun too.
The Shell-Eco Marathon has seen a world record take a tumble and that is wonderful for the planet. The Mater Dei team that competed against students from high schools and universities, taking both first and third places in the contest and beating last year’s record of 1,902.7 mpg. Shell Eco-Marathon Participants represented a range of propulsion systems including diesel, LPG, fuel cell and even solar. The team shattered the previous record and tells you that technology indeed makes a truck load of difference.
It is also interesting to note that the same team ended up both first and third. The team that came second used a diesel-powered vehicle was rated at 304.5 mpg, LPG made 163.5 mpg, fuel cell/hydrogen achieved 1,668.3 mpg and solar got 2,861.8 mpg. That is really cool too. For now the future of the automobile industry seems to be in good hands and that is really nice to know.
