2 local teams gear up for Shell Eco-marathon
It's not a vehicle that will be tearing up the racetrack any time soon, but that's not exactly what some local students are hoping for anyway.
"We're hoping for one thousand miles per gallon this year," says Agney Deshpande of the U.M. Supermileage Team. Deshpande and his team have been working on their vehicle, called Son of Cyprus, for more than a year.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devil Motor Sports Team at Lawrence Technological University has also been working on their vehicle, Alpha.
These are two out of about one hundred teams from North and South America competing in the Shell Eco-marathon in the Motor City.
They may be prototypes, but the challenge takes place on the real streets of Detroit. The vehicles travel seven laps around a 0.9 mile course that begins outside Cobo Arena at Jefferson and Washington Boulevard.
"The measure how much gas you use, and the car that uses the least amount wins," explains Liping Liu, advisor to the Lawrence Tech team.
The race took place from April 9-12, 2015. Unfortunately, the University of Michigan team crashed during a practice run and had to pulled out of the competition. The Lawrence Tech team qualified, but didn't finish the race.
Both teams will now compete in the SAE Super Mileage Race this June in Marshall, Mich.
The winner at the Shell Eco-marathon, which was April 9-12, was the University of Toronto. Its vehicle achieved 3,421 miles per gallon.