[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Matt: speaking of Sunday paper, the Corning Leader ran an article about the event in today's edition. ... I'll ask him if I can repost it here - it's not on their web site.

Permission granted from The Corning Leader (link to home page only; the article is not online there).

Links added by me.

Drivers gather in Watkins
Alternative-fuel vehicles focus of Green Prix

Photo: (the diesel trike pic Will posted further up the thread)

Caption: Evan Schmidt and Bill Buchholz, both of Maine, pose with their homebuilt, three-wheel diesel car. The car, which has a shell made of red cedar and carbon fiber, gets 89 miles per gallon.

By Derrick Ek

Watkins Glen - There's more than one way to get from Point A to Point B, as Saturday's fifth annual Green Grand Prix demonstrated.

The Green Grand Prix, organized by Watkins Glen's International Motor Racing Research Center, drew a wide array of alternate-fuel vehicles for two events on the roads around Seneca Lake - a fuel economy run and a Sports Car Club of America-sanctioned rally.

"It was a good turnout. We had 26 vehicles in the fuel economy run and 15 in the rally," said Bob Gillespie, a member of the organizing committee.

After the morning road events, the drivers gathered near the International Motor Racing Research Center to display their vehicles and discuss their design and performance with groups of curious onlookers.

The Green Grand Prix is meant to promote methods of transportation that use renewable energy or are highly fuel efficient, and thus have a lesser impact on the environment.

Beyond that, though, the vehicles' owners seemed to really enjoy the design and construction process.

For example, Evan Schmidt and Bill Buchholz - tow men from the coast of Maine - brought a three-wheeled diesel car which they built from scratch. It has a steel frame, a red cedar shell, and carbon fiber fenders. The street-legal car gets 89 miles per gallon and zips along at more than 70 miles per hour.

Also competing Saturday was Darin Cosgrove of Ontario, Canada, who modified his Pontiac Firefly - the Canadian version of the Geo Metro - to get nearly 100 miles per gallon.

There were also several high school clubs on hand.

One, from Newburgh Free Academy in the Hudson Valley area, built a solar cell car that resembles a flying saucer. The car has competed in an 1,800-mile cross country race and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, said club advisor Chris Eachus, a physics teacher at the school.

The car took two years to build and cost $80,000, Eachus said.

Another group of students, from Auburn High School, were on hand with their electric motor -and battery-powered vehicle resembling a go-cart.

"We compete at electrathon races, and we basically try to cover as much distance as possible in one hour on an oval track," said Auburn senior Matt Clancy.

Other vehicles that competed in Saturday's event included Watkins Glen International's hybrid pace car, a hydrogen fuel cell car, a liquid propane-powered antique Ford truck, and several scooters and motorcycles, Gillespie said.