A challenge born from another pair of drivers condemnation.
Wayne Gerdes -
CleanMPG - Nov. 12, 2008
The 2009 HCH-II -- 2-weeks, 3 members, 300 pounds of gear on a 7,500 + mile, around the country attempt at a US FE world record in one very fuel efficient hybrid automobile
Motivation
Think back to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. In particular, two-days that mesmerized and stoked the competitive fires of the US Swim team like nothing else.
French swimmer Alain Bernard said his French swim team was going to “
smash” the US in the 4x100 relay. On paper, experts declared the French swim team victors before they even entered the pool. What the experts did not count on was Jason Lezak, captain of the United States relay team, to fight back.
Alain’s “boast” did not just motivate but brought the world what can be one argued as one of the single greatest moments in Olympic history, Lezak’s final 50M swim leg.
Reliving the moment
As the rest of the world watched, Lezak pushed off the wall over the last 50M almost half a body length behind Bernard, the fastest 100M freestyle swimmer in the world. With 35 M left to go, Lezak began what can only be described as a herculean effort to pull within a forearm’s length of Bernard. At 10 M out, Lezak was almost shoulder to shoulder with the seemingly insurmountable Frenchman. At the wall, it was finger vs. finger. For what seemed like minutes, the world fell silent as the electronic scoring was finally displayed. The underdog US team beat the French by just eight-hundreds.
Sept. 3, 2008
An Australian husband and wife team were preparing to launch on a VW TDI/Shell/Navman sponsored 48-Contiguous US State Fuel Economy World record. At the pre-launch press conference, they made mention of something that has been hanging in the back of our own motivational lockers for the last 2 months.
Couple goes after lowest fuel consumption around the US.
During the
VW TDI press conference at the 24:45 minute mark, the following was spoken…
Quote:
Q: There is a concept known as Hypermiling. Can you explain that or are you going to use that?
John Taylor: No. We were asked this question in Australia last week. Our understanding of Hypermiling is where you sit 4” behind a truck and you suck on the back of the truck and the truck can be doing 90 mph and you do not use any gas. Dangerous illegal. We are not going to do anything that is illegal or dangerous. The most important factor for us on this trip is not only our own safety but the safety of every other driver on the road.
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A plan was born
With CleanMPG members in Los Angeles covering the LA Autoshow plus a quick Honda Motorcycle review, why not attempt to break the recently achieved, 48-Contiguous State World Record of 58.82 mpgUS on the same trip? A few calls to Honda, ScanGauge and members, it is a go!
November is not an ideal of time of the year for driving a fuel efficient hybrid with 3 individuals and their gear for a world record but this is our challenge. Success or failure really depends on the weather conditions on route although I will have some highly talented drivers taking turns behind the HCH-II’s windscreen.
Introducing the 48-Contiguous State Fuel Economy World Record Attempt
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48-Contiguous State FE World Record Route Map
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48-Contiguous State FE World Record Route Waypoints
| Date | Start location | Finish location | Miles Traveled | Total Miles |
| Nov. 22, 23, 24 | Start - Hermiston, OR | Wadsworth, IL | 2,297 | 2,297 |
| Nov. 25 | Wadsworth, IL | Batavia, NY | 630 | 2,927 |
| Nov. 26, 27 | Batavia, NY | Columbia, SC | 1,479 | 4,406 |
| Nov. 28, 29 | Columbia, SC | Memphis, TN | 1,090 | 5,496 |
| Nov. 30, Dec. 1 | Memphis, TN/AR | Albuquerque, NM | 1,243 | 6,739 |
| Dec. 2 | Albuquerque, NM | Finish – Arrowhead Junction, CA | 757 | 7,496 |
Individual segment maps
Day #1, 2 and 3:
Hermiston, OR to Big Timber, MT – 631 miles,
Big Timber, MT to Bismarck, ND - 636 miles,
Bismarck, ND to Sioux City, IA - 553 miles, and
Sioux City, IA to Wadsworth, IL - 477 miles
Day #4:
Wadsworth, IL to Batavia, NY - 630 miles
Day #5 and 6:
Batavia, NY to Frederick, MD - 984 miles and
Frederick, MD to Columbia, SC - 437 miles
Day #7 and 8:
Columbia, SC to Biloxi, MS – 566 miles and
Biloxi, MS to Memphis, TN/AR. – 524 miles
Day #9 and 10:
Memphis, TN/AR to Tulsa, OK – 589 miles and
Tulsa, OK to Albuquerque, NM - 654 miles
Day #11:
Albuquerque, NM to Arrowhead Junction, CA – 757 miles
Our sponsors include both ScanGauge and Honda
The drivers
Jennie was recently featured in the
Austin to Houston FE_Challenge and both the
Hypermiling_– Jennie Chen vs. Houston’s KPRC’s Amy Davis News and
Local 2 Investigates Extreme Drivers: Amy Davis Reports.
Justin Fons is the co-founder of the Milwaukee Hybrid Group, the largest Hybrid Group in the country. He is an old hand at Group meets!
Justin’s real claim to fame came about as one of the drivers at the
Insight Marathon Attempt and the
World Fuel Economy Championships this past summer
And probably the most fortunate and grateful, myself.
Updates from the LA Auto Show, from the bike review and the 48-Contiguous State Attempt will follow periodically.