French MicroJoule concept car gets 8,923 miles per gallon
by Jorge Chapa
What is the most efficient vehicle on the planet? And more importantly, how far can it go on a single liter of gas? The Microjoule is your answer, getting over 3,794 kilometers per liter, or approximately 8,923 miles per gallon! Looking less like a car than an amoeba-on-wheels, the Microjoule is the design of students from the French Technical School, St. Joseph La Joliverie, who are set to compete in the Eco-Marathon 2008 to be held in Europe this coming May.
The Microjoule project was started in 1985 as their entry in the Shell Eco Marathon. The Eco Marathon is yearly race held at the Nogaro Motor Circuit in France. It involves over 200 teams from 25 different countries, and the idea is to simply create a vehicle that goes as far as possible with the leas amount of fuel. Naturally, the idea is that the participating vehicles produce the fewest emissions that they can possibly produce.
The Microjoule has participated every year in the European version of this race (a different one is held in the US every year). Since 1992, the Microjoule has won this race every single time and has broken the world record 6 times. So what is the secret? It uses gasoline, just like any other vehicle, but it only really sits one person, and has no bells and whistles. Still, that is one very impressive fuel efficient vehicle. The Eco Marathon will be held on May 22.
+Microjoule @ St. Joseph La Joliverie (French)
+Shell Eco Marathon
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Ummm…. someone has the maths wrong. One story says the “mileage” was 7150 miles/gallon, and this one says it was 3794 km/litre. These two values aren’t the same, though.
3794 km/l = 2357 mi/l = 8924 mi/gallon
7150 mi/gallon = 1889 mi/l = 3040 km/l
There seems to be a discontinuity in the maths (or in the reporting).