Winners Achieve 2824 MPG at Shell Eco-marathon Americas

Université Laval's Alérion Supermileage team ultimately took top honors with an impressive achievement of 2,824 miles per gallon (mpg) during the recent Shell Eco-marathon Americas. With that kind of mileage, the Alérion Supermileage vehicle could travel from Houston all the way to Detroit – host city for Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2015 – on less than a half-gallon of fuel. Though Université Laval has dominated the competition five of the previous six years, they were almost dethroned by the University of Toronto due to some surprising friction problems that developed in the Laval team's vehicle's electrical system. Ultimately, however, the team overcame the obstacles and brought home the top $2,000 prize once again.

“Our team is very excited with the results of the weekend,” said team captain Audrey Lainé. “Initially we had issues with our engine, but we came together as a team to fix it and are extremely satisfied. The University of Toronto and Mater Dei High School had very close scores to our team, which made the weekend even more exciting.”

In the UrbanConcept category, Mater Dei High School from Evansville, Indiana, achieved a solid 901.48 mpg with its gasoline vehicle Elroy, breaking its previous record of 849 mpg and scoring the top prize of $2,000 for the UrbanConcept category for the third year in a row. The school’s other entry, a Prototype battery electric vehicle, captured that energy category with 537.16 miles per kilowatt-hour (m/kWh).

Other top achievements included: Prototype diesel: The No Spark Plug Allowed team from Sullivan High School in Sullivan, Indiana, set a new record achieving 1,899.32 mpg with their vehicle Black Diesel. Prototype ethanol: The Tatonkatoo team from the University of Colorado Boulder in Boulder, Colorado, achieved 1,771.37 mpg with their vehicle Tatonkatoo. Prototype hydrogen: The UCDenver team from University of Colorado Denver in Denver, Colorado, achieved 37.37 m/kWh with their vehicle Archetype.

“We look at Shell Eco-marathon as a way to spark a passion for engineering among young people, as well as fuel the conversation around future energy challenges,” said Wolfgang Warnecke, Shell Chief Scientist Mobility. “Each year we see new technologies that have been developed by these bright young minds, and we hope someday to see these innovations make their way into everyday vehicles.”