PO Box 1146
Salida, CO USA  81201
(719) 539-0300
Fax: (719) 539-0301
info@bbibiofuels.com  

Posted on  

May 28, 2001

Tour De Sol Road Rally Finishes Strong: Cleaner Vehicles Demonstrate Ability to Ease America's Energy Crisis

More than three dozen vehicles crossed the Boston finish line in this year's Tour de Sol competition, on Saturday, May 26. The 13th Annual Tour de Sol: The Great American Green Transportation Festival is a grueling, 300-mile test of the capabilities of advanced vehicles. Dozens of awards and trophies highlight top placing teams, but the biggest winner this year is the American public. With record-high prices at the gas pump, millions of people are looking for more fuel-efficient cars -- and these cars and motor scooters provide viable options that not only reduce fuel costs, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"The impressive quality of the Tour de Sol's winning vehicles shows that Americans don't have to sacrifice safety, performance, or comfort to get a car that's good for the environment," said Warren Leon, executive director of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA).

The Tour de Sol is the largest and most widely diversified competition and showcase for advanced, cleaner vehicle technologies in the world. Vehicles compete in eight different categories and are evaluated on performance, consumer acceptability, and environmental impact. The emphasis on "green-ness" is just one of the things that makes the Tour de Sol unique among international automotive events.

"These vehicles also could ease America's energy crisis by dramatically reducing our need for oil," said Nancy Hazard, Tour de Sol director. "Hybrid-electric and battery-electric vehicles are incredibly efficient and can reduce fuel use by 30-50%. In addition, many of the vehicles in the Tour de Sol demonstrate the the practicality of using domestically-produced fuels, which are good for the environment and for the U.S. economy."

More than a dozen of the vehicles participating in this year's Tour de Sol are production vehicles -- available right now on the market here in the United States. Many other vehicles are pre-production prototypes, experimental vehicles, or student projects.

Vehicles compete and win awards in different categories based on the type of vehicle and the energy source (solar, batteries, hybrid, renewable fuel, etc.) used to power the vehicle.

The top finishers in each category in this year's competition are:

Production Division

Hybrid Electric: Honda Insight (entered by Naoto Inoue)

Battery Electric: Solectria Force (Ethel Walker School, Simsbury, CT)

One -Person Vehicle: Caballito Motor Scooter (Team China, People's Republic of CHINA)

Prototype Division

Hybrid-Electric: "Aluminum Cow" (University of Wisconsin - Madison)

Ethanol Challenge: Chevy Silverado (University of Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA)

Battery Electric (advanced): "Sungo" (New Hampshire Technical Institute)

Battery Electric (lead/acid): Solectria Super Force (Team New England)

Solar Electric: Solar Black Bear (University of Maine)

One-Person Vehicle: Climate Cooler (Team Micronesia, Federated States of MICRONESIA)

The 13th annual Tour de Sol: The Great American Green Transportation Festival began May 19 in Waterbury, Conn. and ended May 26 in Boston, Mass. Along the way, exhibits and community festivals were also held in Albany, N.Y., Pittsfield, Mass., Greenfield, Mass., and Worcester, Mass.

Major sponsors of the 13th annual Tour de Sol include: the U.S. Department of Energy (Title Sponsor), American Honda Motor Company (Gold Sponsor), the Connecticut Department of Transportation, ENSCO, Inc., the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Waterbury Region Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Texaco Ovonic Battery Company.  

Click here to see previously posted News items in our Archive