April 15, 2008

Contact: Amy Hewes
College of Engineering
805-756-6402
ahewes@calpoly.edu

Cal Poly Supermileage Vehicle Again a Top Eco-Marathon Finisher

At this year's Shell Eco-Marathon Americas competition of high-mileage, fuel-saving prototype vehicles, Cal Poly entered as the returning champion and came in second place with 2752.3 mpg, a 45% improvement over last year's 1902.7 mpg win.

The competition took place April 11-12 at the California Speedway track in Fontana, CA.

Cal Poly’s Supermileage Team claimed second between first and third place finisher Mater Dei High School from Evansville, IN. Mater Dei’s first place car reached 2843.4 mpg; their third place car reached 2383.8 mpg. The controversial win was aided by two windy days of competition that helped propel the Mater Dei vehicles. In fact, on some track runs the vehicles clocked over 6000 mpg without having to turn on their engines, although those runs were disqualified.

“The wind hurt everybody but Mater Dai,” said team leader David Ulrich. “They were shaped such that the wind would push them forward. Our car had many technical improvements that increased our mileage over last year. Given no wind conditions, we definitely would have performed better, so next year we hope for better weather conditions and then maybe we can take the title back.”

Shell Eco-Marathon Americas is a three day event consisting of vehicle inspection and competition. The race comprised seven laps with a total distance of 9.7 miles to be completed under 38 minutes and 50 seconds. The minimum average speed was 15 miles per hour.

Cal Poly’s Supermileage Team performed “coast and burns” during which they would only use the engine two to three times to accelerate and then coast up to a mile. This method was used on the first day before competition to find what points of the winding track would be most effective to accelerate. Judges carefully measure fuel before and after a car competes.

This year’s competition consisted of 27 teams from four high schools and 23 universities from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The test vehicles were powered by combustion engines, fuel cell/hydrogen technology, diesel fuel, liquid petroleum gas and solar power.

With a new top and hardware, Cal Poly’s car, Black Widow, was an improved version of the 92-pound vehicle used last year to win with an impressive 1902.7 mpg. The Supermileage Team has been working on Black Widow since September 2007. The team was started by seven students four years ago. It currently has 14 members total, 12 whom attended the competition this year. All five returning members to the team from last year are graduating this year including Ulrich.

“It’s really a transition year,” Ulrich said. “It started off with a group of friends. We’ve grown up from the dorms over the past five years, and we started the team our third year. Now we have a true team with new members and we’re just trying to pass on our knowledge and improve even more next year.”