Cal Poly Supermileage SAE started off competing in the SAE Supermileage Competition located in Marshall, Michigan.  However, the timing and location was just too inconvenient.  We have now geared ourselves towards the Shell EcoMarathon Americas, which last year was held at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA.  Last year’s event was the inaugural year for the Americas competition.  The same event is held overseas in France and the UK every year, but this was the first time in recent history for there to be a competition on this side of the Atlantic as well.

The EcoMarathon Americas, held in mid-April, uses the inside track of California Speedway to set a winding, 1.4 mile course, which has to be circled 7 times in order to complete one run.  Average speed is set at a minimum of 15 mph, making one run last about 38 minutes.  This minimum average speed is strictly enforced.  If a vehicle goes even 1 second over the maximum time limit, the run is disqualified.

Fuel is measured before and after a run and the fuel-mileage is extrapolated out to the gallon.  Most types of fuel can be used, such as regular 89 octane gas, hydrogen or ethanol.  In the end, the equivalent energy is calculated and everything is converted to the equivalent of regular gasoline.  That is how a hydrogen car is able to be reported as getting 7,000 miles per gallon.

All vehicles, including our own, utilize what is called the coast-and-burn method, which means a vehicle will burn the engine up to somewhere around 20 to 30 mph, and then shut the engine off and coast down to around 10 mph before turning the engine on again and repeating the process.