Saturday Wrap Up - Ups and Downs

Here are the highlights from Saturday’s on-the-track action in downtown Houston. There were many ups and downs as some teams overcame challenges and others continue to push to get their vehicle on the track before the last day of competition. 

• The University of Colorado, Boulder currently leads the Prototype class with their gasoline-powered vehicle nicknamed F-Cat. The team achieved a best run of 1,767 miles per gallon.
• 2011 UrbanConcept winners from Louisiana Tech were ousted today by Mater Dei High School’s UrbanConcept gasoline-powered vehicle, which achieved a best run of 611 mpg on the track.
• Three-time winners and defending champions from Laval University were unable to make a qualifying run due to mechanical problems. They hope to get on the track tomorrow.  
• One of Mater Dei’s three other vehicles, nicknamed the 8th Gen, achieved a best run of 1,478 mpg equivalent in the Prototype battery electric category.

About Shell Eco-marathon

Shell Eco-marathon is a unique challenge for motivated students around the world that has all the elements associated with competition; emotion, success, failure and regulations. Students are challenged to drive farther than their peers on one gallon of fuel. For both vehicle classes, teams can use either Internal Combustion or e-mobility energy sources – diesel, gasoline, ethanol, FAME, solar, hydrogen and battery electric technologies.

More than 1,000 students with 113 vehicles are competing in this year’s challenge, taking place right in the heart of downtown Houston on the streets surrounding Discovery Green. This is the third year Shell Eco-marathon Americas takes place in Houston – our ‘US hometown’ – and continues to provide student teams with an urban setting to stretch the boundaries of fuel efficiency.