2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas Highlights

Student-built, fuel-efficient prototype vehicle achieves highest distance using least amount of fuel.

The road to the Shell Eco-marathon Americas has not been an easy one for the Mexico team. Their journey – full of ups and downs – has made this group stronger than ever.

The Purdue Solar Racing Team has been building sun-fueled vehicles since 1991 – and it showed under the bright blue skies at the Shell Eco-marathon Americas as they flirted with an almost unbelievable feat – a 5,000-mpg run.

It wasn’t good enough to win – not even close – but Louisiana Tech’s 150-mpg run of its Urban Concept car represented a major moral victory.

Why do so many Shell Eco-marathon Americas teams have female drivers? Let’s ask the ladies themselves.

With just a few hours left in the 2009 Eco-marathon, previous year’s winners are still in contention for the top prize.

It’s Saturday morning at Auto Clube Speedway an hour east of Los Angeles. Teams of students from around the world are pushing their amazingly fuel-efficient vehicles to the limit in the quest for the highest miles per gallon – all part of the Shell Eco-marathon Americas.

When the College of the Redwoods broke the hub of one of its wheels during a practice run, it got some help from an unlikely source – George Schurr High School, its only rival in the Diesel category.

LSU has battled adversity to make it to the Shell Eco-marathon, dedicating its prototype to a teammate lost in a tragic accident last summer.

Grand Rapids Technical School in northern Minnesota has been to five Eco-marathons in seven years, including three straight in America and two in Europe.

How important is the Shell Eco-marathon to the students who participate? Their faculty advisors weigh in on the benefits.

Learn about some of the ways Shell is helping to make the Shell Eco-marathon Americas green.

After a nearly 24-hour, non-stop drive across the Southwest, the University of Houston arrived at the track with a car they knew would not pass inspection.

The new Urban Concept category is aimed at meeting the needs of today’s drivers with more “road worthy” vehicles.

Mater Dei High grad Matt Neisen enrolled at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and built a racing team from the ground up. Both teams are competing at the Eco-marathon this year – and the Neisen family is still represented.

It’s Friday morning at the California Speedway an hour east of Los Angeles. Nearly 50 teams of students from around the world are set to begin racing their futuristic, outrageously fuel-efficient vehicles in quest of the highest miles per gallon.

While their competitors hit the track, Team Stealth from Chitkara Institute of Engineering & Technology (www.chitkara.edu.in) idled in the garage while their car sat in customs.

Alessandro Ferraris, Matteo Dasso and Marco Cappa are on a mission to lay the groundwork for an Italian invasion of American soil in 2010.

The Shell Eco-marathon has worked so well in the Americas and Europe that Shell plans to export the event to Asia in 2010.