Canadian Team Repeats as Eco-Marathon Champs

Canada’s Universite Laval of Quebec won the annual Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition over the weekend in Detroit with a rating of 2,731 mpg for its gasoline-powered prototype vehicle.

It was the fourth time and the second year in a row Laval has won the student competition, which is in its 11th year. Laval beat 114 other college and high school teams from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and the U.S., including runners-up Brigham Young University (Utah) and Mater Dei High School, Evansville, Ind.

Each team's car was required to make 10 laps for a total distance of six miles within 24 minutes around a closed-circuit track in downtown Detroit. Vehicles that completed the run were evaluated on how little fuel/energy they used.

Competitors were divided into two vehicle classes at the event—prototype and road worthy “UrbanConcept” models—and three powertrain systems: internal combustion, fuel cell and battery electric. The winners will compete against their counterparts from Asia and Europe in the Shell Drivers' World Championship Final later this month in London.