7,000 MPG car wins eco-marathon

Every year, Shell (yes, the giant evil oil company) puts on a little PR banquet in the name of vehicle efficiency called the Eco-Marathon. It's part of the long-standing tradition of oil companies blaming car companies for the excesses of the fossil fuel economy while car companies just as joyfully blame oil companies.

Nonetheless, it's a fun little event where teams get together and figure out how efficient vehicles really can be. And they can indeed be very efficient. By bringing the weight of the vehicles way down, putting them on high-pressure bike tires, and making the vehicles as obscenely aerodynamic as possible, these cars easily get thousands of miles per gallon.

The team from the French technical school St. Joseph La Joliverie went 7,148 miles on a single gallon of fuel. The Shell website is quick to point out that that's "almost ten miles per teaspoon." Maybe the body isn't the most efficient vehicle after all.

In any case... it gives you a sense for just how much power is contained in a gallon of gasoline. It's too bad we've been pretty much pouring it down the drain for the last few decades.

Via EcoModder