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Even a racecar driver like Bertrand Godin -- learned first-hand that saving fuel means changing your driving habits. (http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/news,view.spy?artid=90640&pg=1)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/HCH-II_-_Quebec_Energy-FE_Ralley.jpgMarc Bouchard – A123Autos – Oct. 13, 2007

Unfortunately the best HCH-II achieved just 44.3 mpg and the best Prius, 50.0. Too bad as the vehicles in question are worth so much more with a real FE challenge through cities and the countryside :( -- Ed.

I did it! I've won my first trophy ever in auto racing. Sure, it had nothing to do with my speed, let alone my driving skills, but I'm extremely proud nonetheless. Indeed, over the last weekend, I had the honor to win, together with my colleague and long-time racer Bertrand Godin, the inaugural Laurentian Alternative Energy Rally, an international event that made its North American debut.

As the name suggests, this competition was not about performance and drifting through corners. Instead, the focus was on regularity and fuel economy. The latter is probably the one thing that created the most headaches …

A unique event

Inspired from a similar rally held in the Monaco area, the concept of this challenge was brought to Canada by the people at the Centre for Electric Vehicle Experimentation in Quebec (CEVEQ), in the Laurentides region, where an international symposium on urban mobility and advanced transportation is organized every two years.

Only a few short months were needed to put everything in place for the two-day event, which covers 447 kilometers.

Sixteen crews, including some noteworthy vehicles, showed up at the starting line. There was the Cleanova, a Megane-based electric vehicle developed by Renault and Hydro-Québec (the latter uses it in urban areas). It was the first time ever that the Cleanova took part in a racing event and its performance was commendable despite a couple of technical difficulties, one of which resulted in the odometer no longer working.

Another notable vehicle belonged to Alain Saint-Yves: a 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier equipped with a homemade electric drivetrain. Sadly, the car could not complete the second phase of the rally, as its range proved to be insufficient to cover 300 kilometers.

Of course, there was also the entire fleet of electric hybrid vehicles available on the market, including the Toyota Prius and Highlander Hybrid, the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Honda Civic Hybrid. We drove the latter all the way to finish line and the top of the podium … http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/news,view.spy?artid=90640&pg=1

Time trial...there's something we've never done here. That definitely adds a new twist to the hypermiling game. Our purpose here has always been to kick back and save as much fuel as humanly possible while getting there when we get there (which, when traffic lights are involved, is exactly the same time as everybody else. ;) ) Over time that's given people the impression that it makes us categorically slow. It would be interesting to get a few really sharp hypermilers into an event like this to see how we do, no?

Hi Tim:

___The 2006 Tour De Sol was setup similarly although they only added a penalty for time beyond a drop dead point at the finish line for penalty assessment. It worked out well with Bradlee’s Insight allowing a breathe under 90 mpg over ~ 200 miles in sporadic rain and temps in the 50’s – 60’s. I do not agree with this to the second driving stuff however as that is not how any of us would drive and it wastes fuel like crazy with the speed ups and slow downs to match a time to a point :( The FE achieved showed exactly what this kind of time to a point event allows. Poor at best is about all anyone can hope for.

___That being said, I wish I had known about this previously as it would have been nice to take an HCH-II to well beyond 44 mpg’s no matter how darn fast or stupid they had to drive ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

___That being said, I wish I had known about this previously as it would have been nice to take an HCH-II to well beyond 44 mpg’s no matter how darn fast or stupid they had to drive ;)

And you'd have done it, too -- no doubts there!!! :D:woot:

Looks fun to me! Thats more like how a SCCA Rally is done. And should be done. Throw in the mpg factor. And it gets real compelling.

Marathons can be interesting. But I like the Rally idea better. Timed, mpg, real world driving. I would think that would be much more challenging.

44? Really? 44? I don't think I could get 44 unless I was going against the wind, uphill both ways in a snow storm.

Hi Psy:

___I do not believe in the rally format at all given the results always suck. The Tour De Sol was a timed run. Over 200 miles, you finished within ½ hour of the speed limit allowance and any more, the mpg penalties started piling on for every minute late. This racing to a stop sign and waiting the appropriate number of seconds and then racing to the next creates numbers like 44 and 50 from cars easily capable of 70 + while moving like we drive to work. In fact, the speeds that the rallies move at are darn near hypermiling speeds but with the start/stops and racing to a spot causes severe FE degradation and one in which nobody but the uninformed drive like. Marathons are for the big stuff and those are only practice for the 10 - 20% of the time you might spend at those speeds on your daily grind if you do at all?

___FE rallies should show case the cars capability while maintaining a decent pace, not a race pace and how bad they can be driven to. 44 and 50 is what anybody can receive in an HCH-II or Prius-II when driving foolishly and I certainly do not promote anything like that :ccry:

___Dogarm, every time I see one of these my eyes roll and my toes curl :angry:

___Good Luck

___Wayne

70+ while going to work... :( I guess I need to work on my hypermiling still!

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4557.html

Sounds like great fun. Enjoyed the artical. Good job, H

What bothers me is that people may assume 44 mpg must be the best it can do, considering a so called expert driver like Godin drove it.

___Dogarm, every time I see one of these my eyes roll and my toes curl :angry:


Well, let's be optimistic about it, it's better to have a "race" like this than to have NASCAR races? Yes, they are totally different, but if car races such as NASCAR were removed and replaced with FE rallies such as this, even though they are not what we would like, it would be better?

After becoming the hypermiler I am now, I really can't watch car races anymore. I just think of all the fuel all of those performance oriented engines are wasting and all of the tires they are going through...

I agree that this gives people the mistaken perception that that's the best a hybrid can do on gas. On the first 9000+ km's with my Yaris, I'm averaging over 44 US MPG, so when I read this article, I didn't quite understand the point of this kind of race.

I would think you'd want to make an event like this to exhibit the extreme side of how well someone can do on fuel. Just like how F1 exhibits the extreme side of performance only. An article talking about hybrids getting 100 MPG would catch peoples attention. 44 MPG makes a lot of people think hybrids aren't worth it.

It appened in my neighborhood that thing:). I read something in french by accident during the weekend and this article is the 2nd thing ir read about it. It was a inner event not really covered by the local medias but it's probably like the hypermiling and the media in US, we need a beginning. Actually, if I found the french article, it's because I'am looking for something more local (and french) to make the promotion of the hypermiling. I will probably enter in touch with them. Maybe the FE could be a variable more important in a future rally. A agree, no pride to do 44mpg with a HCH-II. ...but actually if I made many time 60mpg commutes this summer, I currently fighting for 50mpg tank with an intensive use of a bloc heater. Very demotivating.

PierreM.