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Students build 0.1 litres/km car

Volkswagen, we have reported, is set to build its “one-litre car”. The radical two-seater XL1 has a claimed fuel consumption of 0.9 litres/100km.

Even the XL1’s superbly frugal figure pales in comparison with the vehicles some US college students have created, capable of achieving 0.1 litres/100km… and no, that’s not a typo.

FUEL CONSUMPTION BATTLE

The SAE Supermileage competition, the Detroit News reports, is an annual fuel-efficiency competition held in Michigan. Teams compete to build a one-cyclinder, single-seater, fuel-efficient vehicle, that uses the least amount of fuel over a 15.4km course.

In June 2013 four college teams achieved better than than 425km/litre during the 34th year of the competition.

A team from Pennsylvania State University’s Behrend College was the overall winner with a total score of 704 litres/100km or 0.1 litres/100km (0.18 plus its Design Report score of 0.64). The team earned more than R14 000.

Tom Stover, chief technology officer of Eaton Vehicle Group, told the DetNews:  “What these student teams were able to accomplish is truly amazing. The Supermileage competition helps them develop practical engineering, team building and leadership skills they can use to succeed in their careers, including making tomorrow’s cars and trucks more fuel-efficient.”




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