Previous in Forum: VW engine remove/replace in 1:04?   Next in Forum: Ethanol and Two-Cycle Oil
Close
Close
Close
8 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Commentator

Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 88

2,843 mpg

05/16/2009 5:03 PM

Just found these, thought somebody might find it interesting. I don't quite understand how the 2 solar powered entries used any gas, but it's pretty impressive. Has anyone seen higher mpg than this?

2,843 mpg

Round the World record

Register to Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Guru
Popular Science - Biology - New Member Hobbies - Musician - New Member APIX Pilot Plant Design Project - Member - New Member Hobbies - CNC - New Member Fans of Old Computers - ZX-81 - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Centurion, South Africa
Posts: 3921
Good Answers: 97
#1

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/17/2009 1:58 AM

"I don't quite understand how the 2 solar powered entries used any gas."

It must be the gas used by the supporting vehicles proportionally allotted to each vehicle in relation to the cc of the engines rounded to the next higher value.

Maybe they have a lawnmower engine in there to get them past the difficult spots or they use petrol (gas) to clean tar from the underside to reduce weight.

"Has anyone seen higher mpg than this?"

Yes infinity.

In any case my conspiracy theory has been disposed of with Shell sponsoring the effort.

In SA we use a comma as the decimal point so my first response were "2.8 !! even my 3 litre Camry does better " (even when using imperial gallons)

But agreed it is needed research that should be done and the rules may just as well introduce the competition component.

__________________
Never do today what you can put of until tomorrow - Student motto
Register to Reply
Commentator

Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 79
Good Answers: 2
#2

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/18/2009 3:19 AM

Uh-oh, time for Ken Fry to re-post his diatribe about MPG calculation.

__________________
These little sayings down here are irritating. -- Me.
Register to Reply
Guru
Hobbies - DIY Welding - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1601
Good Answers: 58
#3

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/18/2009 7:01 AM

My hat's off to Shell and the winners. YMMV

Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Tulare, CA
Posts: 1783
Good Answers: 35
#4

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/18/2009 10:20 AM

People would have to watch their mileage more closely and schedule their oil changes every time they consume one gallon of gas.

Gas companies will not let automobiles go into mass production with this type of gas mileage. They would lobby against it and win or they would buy up the patents and bury it. They would risk losing money over that.

__________________
Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time but always enough time to do it over?
Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#7
In reply to #4

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/21/2009 1:19 PM

Do you wear your tinfoil hat on when spouting out conspiracy theories?

Register to Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Tulare, CA
Posts: 1783
Good Answers: 35
#8
In reply to #7

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/21/2009 1:42 PM

Did you know that Singer Sewing Machine had a plant in Germany that was converted over to making machine guns during WWII and was operated by American Singer employees.

That's treason however no one was charged for it and our bombing crews were assigned bombing missions to avoid hitting that factory.

We live under a fascist government whether you like it or not. Money talks and corporations are in it for the money.

So do you want to continue wearing your blinders when posting conspiracy theory non-sense?

__________________
Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time but always enough time to do it over?
Register to Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Guru

Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 4484
Good Answers: 246
#5

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/18/2009 8:53 PM

Although 2843 mpg is impressive, the 2003 European Shell Eco Marathon record set by the French car from the Microjoule team is more impressive: 10,705 mpg. We Americans and our 2843 mpg gas (sunlight) guzzlers!!

The Shell Eco Marathon is a great educational challenge, and the students do some really impressive things. Of course, these are not road vehicles, and they are driven at incredibly slow speeds on tracks -- about 15 miles per hour. The average bicyclist can go faster and not use any fuel at all, beyond food.

The solar power consumption is converted to the equivalent joule value of a gallon of gasoline. Although the solar-powered racers start with full batteries, they must nevertheless get all their energy from the sun -- wattage both into and out of the batteries is measured.

The (possibly) more familiar solar racers which race across Australia have several times as much solar panel area, are much heavier (500 lb instead of 100 or less) and are much faster (90 mph possible). The MIT entry has 1200 watts of solar panels, which would support an electric motor of about 1.5 hp continuously in bright sunlight, but the batteries allow temporary peak output of 10 hp.

It is interesting to compare the technology in these cars to cars like those that will be in the Automotive X Prize competition. The electric motors in the solar challenge cars are apt to be 96% efficient, while many in the Auto X prize will be closer to 90% efficient, in the interests of production cost. The batteries used will be very close in terms of power and energy per kilogram. The really dramatic differences will be in weight and aerodynamics. Once the vehicle is large enough to hold two people seated upright enough to be fairly comfortable, then the weight and frontal are have increased a great deal. Compounding the aero problem of larger frontal area is the increase in coefficient of drag: a boxier car that is on realistically sized tires is not as slippery (even for its size) as the solar racers. More weight requires bigger brakes, bigger tires, stronger structure, etc. and things quickly spiral up to the point where 300 MPGe equivalent (on electricity) is about all one can expect from an alternative class vehicle (many of which will be three-wheeled in the X Prize). 300 MPGe is not bad, but it is quite a way from 2843.

__________________
There is more to life than just eating mice.
Register to Reply
Commentator

Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 88
#6
In reply to #5

Re: 2,843 mpg

05/18/2009 10:20 PM

Blink -

Very informative and enjoyable reading, as usual. Do you happen to know whether they allow vehicles powered by synthetic muscle tissue or electric eels?

shock me like an electric eel

Register to Reply
Register to Reply 8 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Poster (1); Blink (1); Hendrik (1); Janissaries (2); rocketsurgeon (1); route89 (1); welderman (1)

Previous in Forum: VW engine remove/replace in 1:04?   Next in Forum: Ethanol and Two-Cycle Oil

Advertisement