Pac-Car
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The Pac-Car is the world record holder for fuel efficiency, now standing at 5,134 kilometres per litre of petrol. This converts to roughly 14,502 MPG!!! The world-record holding PAC-Car operates on a hydrogen powered fuel cell. It uses as little fuel as possible and provides the highest possible fuel efficiency. It has a fuel cell that produces electrical energy from hydrogen and drives two electric motors. The only "emission" from the car is pure water. The car is lightweight, weighing in at only about 30 kilograms. And it has achieved its goal: it finished the course at the Shell Eco-Marathon taking place on the Michelin test track at Ladoux, France, using only 1.07 grams of hydrogen. This means that PAC-Car would only use eight litres to drive around the globe.
PAC-Car is a collaborative project of ETH Zurich and the Federal Office for Energy (financial support), the Paul Scherrer Institute, the University of Valenciennes, France and the industrial partners ESORO, RUAG and Tribecraft. About 20 ETH students worked on the project, most of them from the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering. The two drivers, both women, are also students at ETH Zurich.
The ETH engineers integrated current developments in fuel cell and propulsion technology, aerodynamics, lightweight construction, and control technology as well as other areas into PAC-Car. They tested the system intensively together with their partners from science and industry, and there is a good chance that some of the ideas and applications from the project could be integrated into street vehicles in future. This should contribute to a reduction in fuel consumption and pollutant emissions from passenger vehicles.
The Pac-Car is about knee high and seats one.
