Fuel efficiency is taking the driver’s seat as one of the most critical things consumers are looking for in a new car these days. With fuel costs rising higher all the time, the simple fact is that we are paying attention more now than ever. We want a car that can last as long as possible on a tank of petrol without requiring us to change our driving habits, and we want a car that can offer great performance and reliability while doing so. Thankfully, the Shell Eco-Marathon is a contest designed to encourage students around the globe to design, build, and even test cars and vehicles that are truly ultra energy efficient.

The Eco-Marathon is always an exciting event, and it helps developers find new ways to harness the power of alternative ultra energy sources and to tweak existing technologies in order to make vehicles ultra energy efficient. New records are broken in the event every year, and the designs always work to push boundaries and expectations even further than the year before. Today’s young engineers will be the ones creating our future technologies, and the event works hard to help encourage them to think outside of the box and to push the envelope in order to create a more sustainable future.

Ultra energy efficient cars may be a long way from hitting local dealers, but events like the Shell Eco-Marathon help bring these technologies closer to the average consumer. New ideas can be used and integrated with existing vehicles to help provide improvements even today, while new designs and technologies that look promising are able to be fully tested for affordability, safety, and reliability in order to truly help shape the future of vehicle design and to help create ultra energy cars that only a short time ago were beyond what many had ever envisioned.