A team of French students have built a single-seat diesel-powered car that can achieve 8,372mpg – the equivalent of driving from London to Rome for one litre of fuel that cost around £1.20.
The car has CO2 emissions of 0.88g/km – less than one tenth of the most recent Toyota Prius hybrid (89g/km).
The most impressive fuel efficiency achieved at this year’s Shell eco marathon event at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz track in Germany earlier this month, however, was by a team of fellow French students from Polytech Nantes who managed 13,830mpg in fuel-cell electric car – the culmination of a five-year project.
The world’s most fuel efficient cars
| How is 13,830mpg possible? | |
|---|---|
| These cars are optimised for fuel efficiency in every way possible. The contestants use their engines for very short bursts to boost their speed up and then coast until they lose momentum, an evolution of the stop/start technology that allows conventional cars to stop their engines when at rest at lights or in traffic and then fire-up as soon as the accelerator pedal is touched. |
How can I increase my car’s MPG?
The cars competing in the Eco Marathon are built for fuel efficiency at any cost, but impressive fuel savings are possible with the average family hatchback. The driver of a 5-door family hatchback Peugeot 308 HDi earlier this year achieved an average fuel consumption of 89.95mpg on public roads between Paris and Geneva – an improvement of almost 50 per cent on the manufacturer’s official figure.
Gentle driving and modest speed are the secret to boosting your car’s mpg figure, but you could also try the eco driving tips below.
| Eco driving | … at a glance |
|---|---|
 Take it smooth |
Avoiding harsh acceleration and braking saves fuel and reduces wear and tear – it also leaves you feeling more relaxed |
| Anticipate |
By looking as far as possible up the road it’s possible to reduce stop/start driving, thereby reducing fuel consumption and making you a safer driver into the bargain |
| Shed weight |
Remove unnecessary clutter from your car and you will use less fuel |
| Improve your aerodynamics |
If you don’t regularly use your roof rack or top box, remove it as it’s reducing the efficiency of your car |
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