As gas prices continue to skyrocket, the importance of fuel-efficient vehicles can’t be emphasized enough. Luckily, the Cambridge Design Partnership just unveiled a hypermiling concept car that can travel an astonishing 1,325 miles on a single gallon of diesel! While most green vehicles are tested through a series of intense trials, this concept car was put through its paces by an 11 year old Cambridgeshire girl at the annual Mileage Marathon Challenge at Mallory Park.

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The vehicle was designed to promote engineering and technology and to educate school and college students about the benefits of eco-friendly vehicle concepts. Test driver Kitty Foster, 11, of Kings School, Ely said of the test drive, “When I told my parents how far this car could go on a gallon of fuel they were absolutely amazed! It wasn’t too hard. The Go system helped me use as little fuel as possible. It monitored the car’s performance, which helped us know when to stop the engine and start coasting.”

“The GPS information made a big difference and added 150 mpg. The whole car was great fun to drive. It’s good to see cars getting more environmentally friendly, and I’m really pleased we’ve done so well in the challenge’.

Cambridge Design Partnership used elements from its own lightweight oxygen concentrator, as well as other in-house technologies, to create the unique car. The oxygen generator system was originially developed to treat injured soldiers, but in the car it is powered by an innovative micro-diesel-engine. The car also features low-friction tires to increase mileage.

The car also uses a unique ‘Go’ real-time tracking service that allows the Cambridge team to optimise the car’s systems. The Go technology has previously been used to track the Tour of Britain cycle race. Stephen Lamb, the MoD project leader from CDP added: “This is about more than just an ultra-eco-friendly car. This supports what our technologies can achieve.”

“We quickly realized that our R & D work for the MoD, creating an oxygen generator, was highly applicable to the Mileage Marathon Challenge. Both required an extremely efficient system that used very low power and could run off diesel. Now I just need to figure out how to make my own car get the same kind of mileage!”

Here’s hoping they can make a version with more than one seat.

+ Cambridge Design Partnership

Via Business Weekly