Image: The Chauffeur

The fuel consumption of a typical Formula 1 car is around 4 mpg – or 75 litres per 100 kilometres. The team from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo won the Shell Eco-marathon Americas in April this year with a petrol engine which delivered 1,902.7 mpg.

There must be an enormous sense of achievement in driving for a distance of 3,410 km on a single litre of fuel – the current European Shell Eco-marathon record for a combustion engine entry, which was set in 2004 by the team from Lycee La Joliverie, France. However, it cannot match the thrill which Lewis Hamilton must feel as he approaches the finishing line of a Formula 1 race, in the lead, at over 200 mph. The Eco Marathon, let’s face it, will never be as seductive as speed car racing.

There have been many attempts to encourage the motor sports industry to curtail its fuel consumption. A fuel economy formula, Group C, was introduced by the FIA in the late 1970s, when oil prices were soaring. Group C was aimed at dissuading manufacturers from concentrating solely on engine development. The rules meant that cars needed to conserve fuel early in the race, making it possible – in theory – for small engines to compete with large forced induction engines. The Group C category was widely accepted in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It remained popular for many years - C1 cars even broke the 240 mph speed limit at the Mulsanne Straight in Le Mans. However, when the FIA attempted to turn Group C into a formula series, many of the privateers were excluded. The majors elected to concentrate solely on F1 and Group C went into decline. The last Group C race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 1994.

The Honda F1 Earth Car

The Honda Earth Car

Honda launched its Formula 1 earth car, with pictures of the earth instead of sponsor logos, earlier this year. The move has been labeled ‘green wash’ by some critics, but Honda claims that the car symbolizes a commitment throughout its automotive business to adapting technology developed in motor racing for environmental applications in its road models. Honda’s range includes some of the most fuel efficient cars on the market today – so the company is probably justified in making such a claim.

The F1 rules currently exclude real environmental improvements to the cars. However, much of the technology developed in motor racing can be transferred to the mainstream automotive industry – for example motor racing developments in areas such as weight and aerodynamics can reduce fuel consumption in road cars.

The FIA is considering changes to the F1 rules. It recently brought forward the introduction of a rule permitting the use of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems in 2009. There is also discussion about the possible imposition of a carbon limit on each team: an emissions allocation, which might be reduced annually, to encourage investment in technologies which promote fuel efficiency.

Clean Motor Sport initiatives

Outside Formula 1, there are calls for change even in the most conservative of circles: in the US, General Motors was reported to have urged that NSACAR switch to using ethanol. The NASCAR response was that ethanol would require more frequent pit stops, so a change to the rules looks unlikely in the short term. However, there are a host of initiatives promoting the use of alternative fuels throughout the many various segments of the motor sports industry around the world.

The MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team solar electric car

F1 cars run on unleaded petrol. Le Mans rules permit cars to run on diesel – and the first win by a diesel powered vehicle, the Audi R10 at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006, led to a change in the ACO rules: diesel cars now have a reduced tank capacity of 81 litres instead of 90 litres, to offset the advantage of improved fuel economy.

Jatrohpa based biodiesel at Le Mans

The rise to prominence of diesel at Le Mans has inspired the development of a range of biodiesel fuelled racing teams. UK team groupBio’s Lola B2K Le Mans car runs on a blend of up to 50% biodiesel. The biodiesel is provided by D1 Oils, which sponsors the team. D1, which recently entered into a joint venture with BP, produces biodiesel from jatropha feedstock.

BTL (biomass to liquid) diesel, developed by Shell Global Solutions, is set to make its debut at Le Mans in 2008.

Alternative fuels are being promoted in various types of motor sports around Europe. CNG biogas is used in the Austrian Rally Championship. In the Netherlands, Eelco Rietveld has created Formula Zero, a hydrogen fuel cell kart class. Formula Zero is set to debut in 2008.

The groupBio Lola B2K Le Mans biodiesel car

EEMS promoting alternative fuels and powertrains

In the UK, Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS) is promoting the use of alternative fuels and powertrains in motor sports. EEMS has worked in conjunction with automotive consultancy, Ricardo, to develop an intelligent fuel flow measuring device. The aim of the device is to allow different fuels to compete on an equal footing within the same race.

The EEMS/Ricardo fuel flow measuring system was trialled by Fiona Leggate’s Thurlby Motors Boston Bowl Tech-Speed Astra in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in 2006. Leggate’s Astra ran on bioethanol blend E85 all season. E85 was also used in the Touring Car Championship by Jason Hughes in the MG ZS and two Team RAC drivers, Colin Turkington and Rob Collard, in their MG ZS cars.

Bioethanol in Touring Car Championship, F3, GT and Formula 1000 rally cars

Myerscough College and the British National Non Food Crops Centre have prepared an F3 racing car running on ethanol. The vehicle is running in the British Off-Road Championship. The British GT Championship has also had an E85 bioethanol fuelled Aston Martin DBRS9.

Paul Andrews and the Oaktec Honda Insight Hybrid rally car which runs on E85 bioethanol

Hybrid rally car

The Oaktec Honda Insight Hybrid rally car, also using E85 bioethanol, competes in the Formula 1000 rally championships. Paul Andrews of Oaktec says the team has focused on optimising the benefits from the hybrid aspects of the car and to date has not altered the engine to optimise performance on E85 rather than petrol. Most of the engineering work has focused on optimising the energy storage system. The hybrid has been adapted to run on a ‘PIMA’ system – similar to the MIMA or Manual Integrated Motor Assist developed to capture more wasted energy for the Honda Insight. But PIMA focuses on performance, rather than battery life, the main challenge in mainstream hybrid electric and electric vehicles.

Hybrid electric vehicles still make lots of noise and noise traditionally accompanies speed in motor sports. Petrol heads – or ethanol heads – might argue that replacing the internal combustion engine with a virtually silent electric motor defeats the purpose of speed racing. However, the Panasonic World Solar Challenge has been attracting participants from around the world for more than 20 years. Solar Challenge cars, fuelled only by electricity generated from the sun, compete in an endurance race for 3000 km across Australia, from Darwin to Adelaide – at average speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour.

The challenge of charging a battery from a renewable source such as solar energy or fuel cells is a very different one to the challenge of fine tuning a combustion engine for speed. Noise is symbolic of the challenge of speed. Hybrid technology is likely to make inroads into the field of motor racing – but the ICE is not set to disappear from the race track any time soon.

Courtesy of Shell. The Shell Eco-marathon started in 1939 as the 'Shell Mileage Marathon' after an argument between employes at the Wood River, Illinois, research laboratory about the fuel mileage of their respective cars. Modern day Eco-marathons are organised by Shell for the Americas, Europe and the UK.