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Green Car Club

Advanced Vehicles on the Market

The Tour de Sol Champhionship challenges students and others to build and demonstrate practical Earth-Friendly vehicles. Therefore, any team with a vehicle that reduces gasoline use or is friendlier to the environment can participate. Vehicles of all shapes and sizes are welcome - bull all must have practical applications. Teams participate in, and earn points for, a number of events that highlight the "green-ness" of their vehicle (high vehicle efficiency, low greenhouse gas emissions) as well as good vehicle performance (reliability, range, acceleration, and handling). In addition, teams earn points for meeting administrative and technical requirements and receive penalties for scoring infractions.

Overview of Scoring Points
Points Event
100         Technical Testing
300         High Fuel Economy
300         Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions
100         Acceleration
100         Handling
100         Hill Climb
100         Short Reliability Drive

200        Range/Reliability Event
300         Solar Miles (for solar vehicles only)

Follow this link to a table that has both the for each vehicle that took part in the 2005 Tour de Sol Championship.

From a scoring perspective: Teams compete across technology categories within vehicle size (light duty, heavy duty, one-person). Scores are created from raw data on a fixed linear scale.

From an Awards perspective: Each team will receive a trophy that lists achievements and placement as follows: Placement in category (based on points earned); placement overall for Climate Change Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hill Climb, Autocross, and Acceleration. EVs also receive a Range Award, and solar vehicles receive an award for the most solar miles traveled. NESEA also gives an Innovative Technology Award, and a Renewability Prize for the team that uses a fuel with the largest percentage of renewable energy (taking all fuel sources and full life cycle into account).

Following is a description of each event listed above:

Technical Testing: Points are earned for getting registration in on time, completing tech testing the first time through, ability to start on a hill, low noise pollution, and handling (cone test).

High Fuel Economy: Data is collected on all fuel used - liquid, gaseous, and electrical. Teams must come with an approved plan on how they will measure their fuel and/or the electric meter specified in the Rules. Vehicle efficiency is expressed in miles per gallon equivalent. (MPGe). That is, the amount of fuel that has the same amount of energy that is contained in one gallon of gasoline. Fuel economy is based on fuel used and miles driven during the range/reliability event.

Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions: To calculate greenhouse gas emissions, the most coveted prize at the Tour de Sol, NESEA works with the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory to convert MPGe to grams of greenhouse gas emitted to travel one mile, taking the full life cycle of the fuel, from extraction and/or production to use, into account. For example, for electric vehicles, the emissions of mining coal and generating electricity in northeast power plants is taken into consideration.

Acceleration: The acceleration event measures the time a vehicle takes to complete a fixed distance from a standing start. The distance is determined by available facilities.

Handling: The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is invited to set up an autocross course - a coned path in a parking lot. SCCA measures the time it takes to complete the course.

Short Reliability: Vehicles will drive up to 60 miles on a prescribed course. The vehicles are timed. The goal is to arrive at the finish line within a specified window.

Range/Reliability Event: The goal is to measure how far a vehicle can travel within a specified time without recharging or refueling.

Solar Miles: The goal of this event is to demonstrate how many miles a solar-assisted electric vehicle can drive in one day on the energy produced by the solar panels fixed on the vehicle.

RULES: For a full description of the Tour de Sol Rules, Scoring parameters etc, click here.