The One Gallon Challenge

The wood-gas powered truck from 21st Century Motor Works (Dave Nichols and Sharon Roy) breezed in at 27.7 mpg, showing the viability of using a local, carbon-sequestering fuel source: ordinary cord wood.

Dirigo, a sleek diesel 3-wheeler clocked in at 88 MPGe (Miles Per Gallon equivalent) with a running cost of 2.9 cents per mile, showed the importance of good aerodynamics. This car had not only driven the 100 mile segment without back-up, but also the 450 mile round-trip from Maine.

MIT's electric vehicle team (Tyler Liechty, Peter Lamb and Dan Lauber) drove their lithium Porche in at an amazing 164 MPGe (plug-to-wheels) and 75 MPGe (wells-to-wheels). Once our electricity grid becomes more earth-friendly, this technology may lead all others. Many spectators, used to lead-acid technology, were awed as these students drove their Porche, with 15 automotive-sized batteries, from Cambridge to Greenfield on a single charge, then charged up with 220 VAC at the Ford dealership, and merrily drove back home. Without a doubt, the miracle battery we all dreamed of decades ago has arrived.

Dripping with sweat, Jory Squibb drove his gas-powered three-wheel Moonbeam across the line at 93 MPGe and 2.7 cents per mile cost. Built as a grocery-getter, it had never been driven far from Camden, Maine -- but it finished the race without incident, blasting its heater to keep the engine cool in the 90-degree heat.

Ricker Truck (ala Harry Ricker), a 900cc diesel-powered vehicle completed only hours before the event, clocked in at 70 MPGe and showed the advantages of using laminated foam construction for safety and light weight.