2008 Eco-Marathon Car Gets 7,148 MPG

eco car, fuel economy

Just to mix things up a bit, take a look at this car from the 2008 Eco-Marathon, registering at a whopping 7,148 MPG (via Autopia):

Looking like one of those space caskets from Star Trek, the single-seat racer you see to the left, constructed by a team from the French technical school St. Joseph La Joliverie and dubbed the Microjoule, traveled an amazing 7,148 miles on a single gallon of fuel (in other words, almost ten miles per teaspoon).

Shell’s Eco-Marathon race is self-described as “an educational project that integrates the sustainable development values with driving a vehicle using the least amount of energy. ” The car that travels the greatest distance and uses the least amount of fuel wins.

Of course, at some point the notion of fuel economy becomes arbitrary (and absurd). I probably used more gasoline walking to the library today (amount of food energy I had to eat to get here X the embodied energy of my food).

But more power to the engineers involved. I fully support their employment in the auto industry.

Here are two of the other competitors:

eco car, fuel economy

eco car, fuel economy

Related Posts:

The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
Aptera’s $26,000 Electric Car and 300 MPG Hybrid Coming Soon
376.59 MPG Car Found In Museum (It Was Built In 1959)

Source: Autopia

Photo Credit: Shell

Add a comment or question

6 Comments

  1. Ten miles per teaspoon of gas.

    Sweet.

  2. [...] Looking like one of those space caskets from Star Trek, the single-seat racer you see [above], constructed by a team from the French technical school St. Joseph La Joliverie and dubbed the Microjoule, traveled an amazing 7,148 miles on a single gallon of fuel (in other words, almost ten miles per teaspoon). <MORE> [...]

  3. [...] Soure: Gas2.0 [...]

  4. Some general tech info would be nice. Fuel cells? Thermal Catalytic Cracking? Direct drive? Average speeds at rated MPG? Non-oxygenated fuel? White gasoline?

  5. Caution: Your mileage may vary!

    No wonderous alchemy here…just what we already know. Lighter, more egg like, yada, yada, yada.

    This is to a practical car what throwing a bullet is to shooting one.

  6. Where’s the tech info !!!! Isn’t that the whole point ??
    Guys like me who are trying to make a differance in thier, and others lives work on things like this. Very often the inventor in his basment make the big discoveries. A little help here Shell !

Tell us what you think:

Today’s Sponsor