2006 Tour de Sol

With 60 entries in three automotive competitions, a model hydrogen fuel cell competition, three public events, and dozens of exhibits by sponsors and others, it is difficult to know where to begin – but ONE message was clear. Interest in fuel-efficient vehicles is higher than ever – and the potential to reach our goal of “aero zero,” that is, zero oil use and zero climate change emissions, is attainable!

In fact, the AVERAGE fuel efficiency of the vehicles in the Tour de Sol was 66 mpg – more than 14% above the 27 mpg CAFÉ standard for light duty vehicles – and, on average, climate change emissions were reduced by 57%! The Tour de Sol also lived up to its reputation of being an incubator for new green automotive technologies – and rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the thousands of people who came to the Tour de Sol to see the latest green vehicles.

After a day of technical testing for one-of-a-kind vehicles in the Tour de Sol Championship, Bob Callender, VP of NYSERDA, welcomed business and government leaders to the Tour de Sol and the Saratoga Technology and Energy Park. Visitors were able to chat with Tour de Sol entrants and the companies with cutting-edge advanced vehicles and components such as Starfire Systems, Miles Automotive’s new NEV, Orion Bus Company, and several battery companies including Electrovaya and ElectroEnergy showcasing EVs, and EVermont showcasing an EV using ZEBRA batteries and a recently converted hydrogen-powered Prius.

 

NYSERDA’s Bob Callender welcomed the Tour de Sol and challenged us all to think “outside the barrel.” Photo: Todd Bissonette	MetroKing’s hybrid taxi. Photo: Todd Bissonette	EVermont’s hydrogen-powered Prius. Photo: David Gronczniak
Miles Automotive showcased its soon-to-be-released NEV. Photo: Todd Bissonette	Starfire Systems displayed its lightweight ceramic brakes. Photo: Todd Bissonette	Electrovaya showcased its lithium Polymer batteries in a SMART car. Photo: Todd Bissonette

 

For many, the company that drew the greatest attention was HyMotion, A Canadian firm offering kits that would convert a conventional hybrid to a plug-in hybrid – that has the potential of reducing liquid fuel use by 80% - and taking us well on the way to “zero zero.” Next to HyMotion was Greascear Vegetable Fuel Systems and Eastern Biofuels by Vogelbilt that offer veggie oil and biodiesel fueling options for diesel vehicles – that can also reduce oil use and climate change emissions.

 

HyMotion’s plug-in hybrid was center stage. Photo: Todd Bissonette	Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems’ kit converts diesel vehicles to run on veggie oil. Photo: Todd Bissonette	Eastern Biofuels by Vogelbilt refueled all the biodiesel vehicles. Photo: Todd Bissonette

In the afternoon, we returned to our home base a the Saratoga Spa State Park for team-to-team presentations – which provoked lively question and answer sessions, and gave us all an opportunity to hear about the student teams – one from as far away as New Delhi, India.

 

Friday was set for our first-ever “Student Day,” which we held in partnership with the Saratoga Automobile Museum. Seven hundred students arrived along with torrential rain. By some miracle, we managed to get all of the Championship vehicles into our large tent, with sponsor vehicles under smaller tents in the parking lot. The excitement that the students brought was infectious! We offered guided tour to middle school students and tours and workshops to the high school students. We hope that some of them will come back next year with an electric bike or car!

 

Western Washington University’s car attracted Good Morning America and our imaginations with a car whose operation actually reduces climate change emissions. Photo: David Gronczniak

Good Morning America’s arrival was the icing on the cake. They were following Western Washington University’s (WWU) car – which had captured all of our imaginations. The purpose-built hybrid was powered by biomethane – and their “power plant” was a 1200-cow dairy farm! The farm recently installed biodigesters to deal with the cow manure – and they had lots of methane a byproduct. WWU is compressing the methane and using it to power their car. Since methane is a very strong greenhouse gas (twenty times stronger than carbon dioxide) their car actually results in reducing climate change emissions to well below zero!

 

Consumer Reports also arrived – to cover two about-to-be released Toyota Hybrids and Honda’s fuel cell and natural gas vehicles, and to look at the many other prototypes.

 

Toyota showcased its hybrid Camry at the Tour de Sol the day before it was released nationwide. Photo: David Gronczniak	Honda showcased its natural gas Civic named the “Cleanest Car on Earth.” Photo: David Barclay	Toyota displayed its luxury Lexus GS450h, which will be released in July. Photo: David Gronczniak

 

Collin McCollough sets out on the Monte Carlo-style Rally’s Fuel Efficiency Challenge. Photo: David Gronczniak

Friday morning, vehicles competing in the Monte Carlo-style Rally and Fuel Efficiency Challenge began to arrive. After lunch over 20 vehicles in the Championship and Monte Carlo-style Rally headed off on a 200-mile run to Cooperstown, NY and back so that we could capture fuel use data over a common route. The electric and solar vehicles stayed closer to home to demonstrate their range capabilities. Data was collected and handed to the scoring staff to record the data, calculate fuel efficiency and climate change emissions, and calculate final scores.

 

Thousands of people visited the Tour de Sol at the Saratoga Autombile Museum’s Spring Auto Show. Photo: David Gronczniak	OptiBike took first place in the Around Town Vehicle event and rode 103 miles in four hours. Photo: Todd Bissonette	Students line up their hydrogen fuel cell cars for the H2Help speed event. Photo: David Gronczniak
Fujii-TV host tries out Newburgh Free Academy’s Electrathon vehicle. Photo: David Barclay	The Electech’s team talk about their electric vehicle. Photo: David Barclay	Auto Show attendees check out North Haven Community Schools’ entry. Photo: David Barclay

Saturday dawned overcast but dry. We set up for our final display at the Saratoga Automobile Museum’s Spring Auto Show. Around Town vehicle competitors arrived with their electric bikes and neighborhood vehicles to swell our number to over 70 displays. Middle and high school students also arrived with their model hydrogen fuel cell cars to compete in the first ever H2Help competition. Many more Monte Carlo-style rally participants arrived to swap stories about their fuel-efficient driving techniques, and to share their enthusiasm for their fuel-efficient vehicles with auto show attendees.

The day wrapped up with awards for H2Help and the Monte Carlo-style Rally entrants, while Championship and Around Town entrants participated in an Autocross event organize by the Mid-Hudson SCCA and a range event. A celebratory BBQ supper was enjoyed by all.

 

Students receive awards for their hydrogen fuel cell model car. Photo: David Barclay	Wayne Gerdes was named Grand Champ after driving in a Honda Insight from Illinois on one tank of gas - 89 MPG average. Photo: David Gronczniak	NYSERDA’s Dave McCabe receives an award for the best Ford Escape in the Monte Carlo-style Rally – 37 MPG. Photo: David Gronczniak
Jack Lee receives an award for his turbo-charged Honda Insight – 76 MPG. Photo: David Barclay	Gavin Watson receives an award for his biodiesel vehicle – 53 MPG. Photo: David Gronczniak	Charles Sullivan took the prize for best Drive-in Insight – 88 MPG. Photo: David Gronczniak

 

On Sunday morning, we held a special brunch and awards ceremony for the Championship entrants, and then said our good-byes and good wishes for another successful year – and NESEA’s heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers and entrants that have taken us all one step closer to our ultimate goal of “Zero Zero.”

 

West Philadelphia High School team captured 1st place overall for the second year in a row with their biodiesel-powered Attach kit car. Photo: Todd Bissonette	St. Marks School entry was awarded the Renewability Prize by demonstrating a solar-assisted electric vehicle that uses “green electricity.” Photo: Todd Bissonette	West Irondequoit High School braved the rains and caputed first place in the one-person solar category. Photo: David Barclay
Janice Kurkoski, who received the “Volunteer of the Year Award,” confers with Brian Cole. Photo: David Gronczniak	Numerous volunteers helped out with timing during tech testing. Photo: David Gronczniak	Jim Dunn and Drew Gillett share a congratulatory moment. Photo: David Barclay