A team of students with a volunteer team of parents and community members, at Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Ind. built a single seat, aluminum framed and carbon fiber skinned car powered by a 50cc engine to compete in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition, where their 849 mpg result garnered first place in the Urban Concept division. As hypermile vehicles go, this one looks pretty good.
The “Urban Concept” category requires “4-wheel hydraulic disc brakes, headlights, turn signals, wiper, luggage compartment and a host of dimensional requirements,” according to one of the team advisors, so it’s even more impressive than those 2000 mpg oddities you see in the prototype class.
The car was designed in CAD, a foam mold was built up, shaped and sanded and eventually a carbon fiber body was produced.
Of course, nothing like this will ever be commercially practical and the “coast and burn” driving method which helps get maximum mileage isn’t something you would do on your way to work, but as a learning experience for high school students, this competition is excellent and as a hands on project, they built a pretty sweet looking little car.
Nice job!
Link: Make Magazine