Tour de Sol - 2004 Results

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The 2004 Results (*.pdf) are in, and the 2004 Awards (*.pdf) given! They came by the hundreds from all across North America to prove that high gasoline prices can be beaten. Tour de Sol: The Great American Green Transportation Festival and Competition fielded several dozen teams driving hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles. When the five day, multi-city event was finished, the answer was clear: these advanced technology cars make too much sense to be ignored. We invite you to see the vehicles and read about their accomplishments!

"These cars are the real thing," said Nancy Hazard of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, organizer of the Tour. "The latest batch of hybrids on the market - or about to come on the market - are the smartest choice a driver can make these days."
Tour de Sol vehicle competition results show that the average American driver can save a lot of money at the pump especially with the current out-of-control price increases for gasoline. In most cases, cost savings for fuel can end up covering several monthly car payments.

"There're only two types of drivers on the road today," according to Tour spokesman Jack Groh, "those who own a fuel efficient car right now and those who will own one in the future."

In addition to production models available now (Honda and Toyota) and soon to be available (General Motors and Ford), there were more than a dozen one-of-a-kind vehicles - some hybrids and others that don't use gasoline at all - built by high school and college teams. These young people are tackling the tough energy and environmental problems we're facing today.

Vehicles won awards and prizes for both "green-ness" and consumer satisfaction.
Tour de Sol production vehicles achieved the equivalent of forty, fifty, sixty and even more miles per gallon. "These vehicles - the ones available for sale - look great, they have excellent performance - even better than some of their conventional gasoline counterparts and they save a bundle of money," said Doug Reid, executive director of NESEA. "There's really not a downside."

Several experimental vehicles built by student or independent teams were able to reach fuel economies comparable to more than 100 miles per gallon and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions using a variety of advanced technologies including renewable fuels, batteries and solar energy.

General Motors Corporation and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities are the sustainable energy partner sponsors of the 2004 Tour de Sol. Supporting sponsors include the American Honda Motor Company, Exelon Energy, the Federal Highway Administration, Ford Motor Company, the New York Power Authority, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The annual Tour de Sol is organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) headquartered in Greenfield, Massachusetts. NESEA is the nation's leading advocacy and education association promoting awareness, understanding, development, and adoption of non-polluting, renewable energy technologies. NESEA has worked successfully in the fields of transportation, building construction, and renewable energy for nearly 30 years.

The following files are the scoring worksheets for the competition results posted at the top of this page.