Mar 21 2008Little Car Gets A Staggering 8,923 MPG, Doesn't Have Room To Make Out In The Back
The Microjoule competition car is the lovechild of a caterpillar and a jellybean. And maybe a go-cart that was originally just filming but ended up getting in on the action. The amazingly green vehicle can "make the journey between New York and Los Angeles over three times on just one gallon of gas." !!! It has won Shell's Eco-Marathon every time since the car's original inception in 1992. "Amazingly the Microjoule doesn't have any fancy tricks — it's just an aerodynamic, lightweight one-seater that runs off gasoline, but runs for a long time." Man, there has got to be some trick. Like a hamster wheel or a sorcerer or something. Something. Cars just can't go nearly 9,000 on a single gallon of gas. So I'm just going to go ahead and set the record straight right here: Magic. That's right folks, The Gathering. You know, that card game.
Microjoule competition car gets amazing 8,923 miles per gallon [dvice]
Reader Comments
1. max - March 21, 2008 3:55 PM
freezee!
2. Tap - March 21, 2008 4:27 PM
Where can I buy you?
3. VickyStarr - March 21, 2008 5:04 PM
M'hm.
Must be an "actual size" photo then.
=/
4. PB&J - March 21, 2008 6:30 PM
UPDATE:
Shell buys rights to Microjoule and runs it through a shredder.
5. Gal - March 21, 2008 7:18 PM
Shell eco marathon is not a "drive 'til it's empty" race, but the concept is more to drive on a track for something like 7 laps, and compare the quantity of fuel in the tank.
The motor can also be stopped when the road goes down to save fuel.
6. Scott - March 21, 2008 8:18 PM
@4, No $hit!
The latest we're gonna shove every friggin drop of oil down your throats? Hybrids! Oh, we are working hard on the other stuff but until then we are helping to defray with hybrids.Translation: We fooled the idiot sheeple again!
Now, tell me again what big oil would need with the rights to an advanced battery that will power a car for 250+ miles? Oh yea, that was 5 years ago and as you can see they are making sure it doesn't get into the wron...any hands! Don't get me started here!!!
7. dick valentine - March 21, 2008 11:31 PM
ecofags suck my balls...anyway..yeah if a normal american (250 pounds of shit) sat inthis..um it wont go anywhere. oh and the stats would change alot..if it hit any hill or incline of .5 deg.
the fuel is not reg..most likey supreme or ultra supreme.
anyone with a hybrid is gay..cause hybrids are gay. if someone was smar..make a em engine...much better then any hybrid..and i dont know..sell it you fags..stop compkaining about big oil.
i am designing a newer internal combustion engine (engine designer - suck my cock nerds. Its sweet stuff.
by enviro fucktards.
8. Sam Figueroa - March 23, 2008 4:04 AM
In the History section of Shell's website they state that team Microjoule from France achieved "a fuel consumption figure of 10,705 miles per gallon".
(Since most comments with links are parsed as spam you'll have to find the link yourself. Go to the Europe and then to the About section you'll find History there)
9. Ashninja - March 24, 2008 9:43 AM
A Magic The Gathering fueled car =)
10. stonehawk - March 24, 2008 10:21 AM
dick valentine:
wow im so impresed with ur highly intellectual riting stile... your obviusly a really cool guy ... so much cooler than all those gay ecofags lol...i totaly belive that u design engines....esp when u talk like that... callin shit gay three times in a paragraph.
Grow the fuck up you insensitive prick. In case you haven't noticed, mother nature just punched us in the fucking FACE. It's called New Orleans. You should visit it--if only the majority of it weren't wiped out by a freak tropical storm. It's kind of sad. Droughts. Floods. The weather goes straight from deathly dry to drowning deluge at a snap, and every summer is a summer of record heat. Every winter is briefer, but sharper. We're losing that comfy moderate point that makes the earth potable for survival. Just keep that head in the sand though, and I'm sure it'll all be fine. Me, though, I live up in the Appalachians and I'm very much looking forward to this area becoming prime beach-front property.
If only natural selection worked a little bit faster.
11. damn luddites - March 24, 2008 10:50 AM
www.shell.com/ecomarathon
shell has been sponsoring this thing since 1939
the cars have to complete their 7 laps at a speed of "at least 15 mph", and "minimum average of 30 km/hr" (18.64 mph).
meaning that is you drive your own car really slowly, and never have to go up hill, or stop for a light or slow down behind a stupid soccer mom in a SUV, then you'll get better mileage as well.
the top winner in the "urban" concept combustion engine was only about 800 mph (not sure the difference between "prototype" (the one getting over 8000 mpg) and "urban".
yes, they make you use "shell plus 98" gas (or "unleaded 95" petrol in the uk), but they convert fuel consumption to Net Calorific Value to get the distances based on Joules. this way, they can compare the outputs of hydrogen, ethanol, unleaded, etc etc.