Shell Eco-Marathon DetroitShell Eco-Marathon Detroit

Young, open minds undeterred by the fog of realism converged on Detroit’s Cobo Center over the weekend for the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas, the ultimate fuel-economy challenge. About 1,000 students representing 110 high schools and colleges from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Guatamala brought their hand-built concepts to compete with each other in the street-friendly Urban Concept and low-slung Prototype categories. Some of the vehicles are battery-electric, while most run on gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, ethanol, compressed natural gas or gas-to-liquids, capable of achieving hundreds and even thousands of miles per gallon. Winners were selected in each car and fuel category.