G Magazine editor, Carolyn Barry, in Ford's new fuel efficient car, the ECOnetic. She is helping to drive it from Darwin to Adelaide in the 2009 Global Green Challenge.
Credit: Peter Watkins
- Advertisement -
I must admit that I don't think I was fully prepared for the adventure Eco Car Challenge has been.
I signed up a couple of weeks ago with the general anticipation that a 3,000 km journey from Darwin to Adelaide would naturally create. However, after day two of the seven-day trip, with ambient temperatures of 40C and nine hours of driving - in no air conditioning - I started to have reservations.
Fortunately, that has been the hardest day.
The challenge is in its inaugural year and is being run in conjunction with the old favourite, the World Solar Car Challenge. As a first-year event, the aim is for entrants - from the fully electric Tesla Roadster, to a postman's bike (see photo below) and the not-so-eco Holden Malloo HSV ute - to beat the official fuel efficiency figure.
This is not necessarily the best way to judge an eco car winner; after all, if you have a high fuel use to begin with, beating the official figure is a lot easier! The overall fuel use is also recorded, so that should even out the score for the small cars.
I was tasked to Ford's new modern diesel car, the Fiesta ECOnetic, with co-driver and motoring journalist Peter McKay. At an official 98g/km, the soon-to-be-released ECOnetic is second only to the Toyota Prius in CO2 emissions for Aussie cars.
However, as I'm learning on this trip, driving technique has a lot to do with fuel efficiency. In fact, it can account for about 25 to 30 per cent of fuel use! Peter and I are certainly showing that we can consistently drive at about 3.1 L/100km, well below the official 3.7 L/100km of the car.
Admittedly, it does involve driving like a Nana to do so, and in some pretty less-than-comfy conditions at times. We're travelling at average speeds of 75 km/hr along highways that have max speeds of 110 - 130 km/hr. And we're driving with no air conditioning, widows up and no fan on. Call this dedication, but we're keen to show just how fuel efficient you can be in the harshest of circumstances.
Sweaty bodies aside, what I'm finding is that anticipation of the traffic and changing road conditions (such as big hills, or slow caravans) can make a big difference to fuel consumption. I'm also much more engaged with the driving and despite driving relatively slowly, it's not hard to be bored when each turn and slight hill is something to concentrate on!
So even though these aren't realistic driving conditions with all the creature comforts, it is a good example of the synergy of driving technique and car technology to achieve great fuel efficiency and low emissions.
If you want the blow-by-blows and to find out if we win the challenge (the Mini Cooper D's are pretty close behind!), follow me on Twitter.
Motoring journalist Peter McKay and I talking strategy before the day 2 leg.
Comments
With the global warming we are experiencing today, we should really do something about this because in the end, we will be the ones who will suffer. With these eco cars, we can save the environment. I will buy this when I retired. Retirement is a big topic, as it's less advisable these days to put your retirement funds in the stock market or real estate, and that has people wondering about retirement annuities. By and large, you want to stay the heck away from them. Here is how retirement annuities work – you sell an insurance company the bulk of, if not totality of, your assets, and they give you a monthly stipend until you die. Your heirs, upon your expiration, get nothing. Now retirement annuities do guarantee that you'll see some money, but they don't mention the huge commission that agents get for it – not to mention whatever's left over – and your children might need quick payday loans to pay your funeral costs.
there are many benefits of using a green vehicle. they are cheaper to maintain because they have fewer moving auto parts and they can be recharged at your convenience.
Sounds like a great event to participate. I hope your having a blast and that you will note down a great performance. Certainly looks like your doing great, however, it can't be very comfortable! When driving under "normal" circumstances, would you say the fuel consumption would be around the 3.7 l. per 100 km. or more/less?
We ended up winning the challenge in terms of the lowest fuel use for the journey - 98 L for 3,147 km. Not bad I reckon! The final official fuel economy figure for the event was 3.13 L/100km. This was about a 15 per cent improvement on the (government) ADR figures for the car
You have to drive like a nana and eschew air con when you drive to achieve the sort of figures we did for the event as we were trying to get the lowest fuel economy possible. However, it is possible to reasonably achieve about 25 per cent fuel saving for less economical cars just with driving habits. The less fuel efficient the car to begin with, the more that driving habits can make a difference.