Lafayette to Destin, Fla., on a single gallon of gas? That’s how far a gas-sipping car designed and built by University of Louisiana at Lafayette mechanical engineering seniors can travel.
The Cajun Eco-car achieved the third-best fuel economy in its class — 375 mpg — during the Shell Eco-marathon Americas’ competition in April. The contest challenges high school and college teams to see whose vehicle can go the farthest on the least amount of fuel.
Competing cars, each with a 250-milliliter gas tank, were driven on a six-mile course in downtown Houston. Then, fuel consumption was measured and miles per gallon were calculated.
This is the first time a UL Lafayette team entered the contest.
There are two vehicle classes: prototype and urban concept. Students concentrate on fuel efficiency for the prototype class. They build more practical vehicles for the urban concept class. Each class is further divided into fuel types, such as gasoline, diesel, ethanol and solar. The Cajun Eco-car uses gasoline.
UL Lafayette’s team excelled in design competition, earning a special prize, the Urban Concept Design Award. Competing schools included Penn State, Purdue and Rice.
The University’s 220-pound, single-seat coupe looks like
a cross between a dragster and a go-kart, yet it’s designed for the road. To compete in the urban concept class, a car must meet specific criteria. For example, it must have four wheels, side mirrors, lights, turn signals, windshield wipers and luggage space. The driver’s compartment must also meet space dimensions.
The University’s team also won the overall Communication Award for its promotion of the project. The Urban Concept Design Award and the Communication Award each had a $2,000 prize.
Dr. William Emblom, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UL Lafayette and the team’s advisor, said the students applied engineering principles they studied in class.
“Their efforts on the engineering and design will give them the tools to be successful in the workplace and are what truly give prestige to the UL Lafayette mechanical engineering program,” Emblom said.
Team captain Clint Manuel said UL Lafayette students chose to build an urban concept car because it is more complex than a prototype vehicle. “We wanted to go with something more practical and something more challenging,” he said.
The team raised about $15,000 in cash, and another $10,000 to $15,000 in non-cash donations, such as materials, shop time and expertise. That was enough to cover the entire cost of the project.
The team was composed of mechanical engineering seniors Manuel, David Stelly, Kyle Mouton, Tyler Cook, Joseph Lanclos, Jed Viator, Brocke Marrette, Zac Lancon and Rilee Dupuis. Three other members, Caleb Voisin, David Mabile and Keith St. Germain, graduated in December 2012. Dupuis, who plans to graduate in December, is the only returning member.
Emblom said the students who competed in the 2012 Shell Eco-marathon for the first time built a strong foundation for their successors.
“One of the great things about the project was that they had to write an engineering report documenting their efforts and then, based upon the performance of the vehicle, describe what changes they would make to it to improve the vehicle’s performance. This is the essence of engineering. The next team will have a distinct advantage because they will have inherited a knowledge base that this team established.”