How does 100 mpg sound?
A modified hybrid vehicle recently broke the 100-miles-per-gallon barrier in the 2005 National Tour de Sol held in Albany, N.Y., while a student team from West Philadelphia (Pa.) High School took top honors with its purpose-built hybrid vehicle, which uses biodiesel instead of gasoline and produces 77% less climate-change emissions compared to a conventional gas car.
During this 17th annual sustainable-energy and transportation festival and competition, over 60 hybrid, electric, and biofueled vehicles from throughout the United States and Canada demonstrated that the technology exists to power transportation systems with zero oil consumption and climate-change emissions. Each vehicle showed new ways to reduce dependence on foreign oil while reducing harmful pollutants.
The E-Bike and NEV Competition attracted over a dozen vehicles, ranging from recumbent electric tricycles to stand-up scooters, electric bicycles, and bur-wheeled/four-passenger NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles). All run on electricity and are designed to meet the need for local “around town” trips. OptiBike of Boulder, Colo., took first place with a pedal-assisted electric bicycle.