Hydrogen-powered car used 1g fuel in 20 km

Ladoux, France--The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology -- ETH Zurich has set a new world record for fuel efficiency. The world record-holding PAC Car operates on a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. Using the lower heating values of hydrogen and gasoline as a conversion basis, this world record now stands at 5385 kilometres per litre of gasoline.

ETH Zurich set itself the goal to construct a vehicle that used as little fuel as possible and provided the highest possible fuel efficiency. PAC Car has an optimised fuel cell system that produces electrical energy from hydrogen and drives two high-efficiency electric motors. The only "emission" from PAC Car is pure water.

The car weighs in at less than 30 kilograms. It achieved the top result at the Shell Eco-marathon on the Michelin proving grounds at Ladoux, France on June 24 to June 26, 2005. The vehicle used only 1.02 grams of hydrogen to drive the distance of 20.68 km at an average speed of 30 km/h. This means that PAC Car would only use the energy stored in about eight litres of gasoline to drive around the globe.

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Press release from ETH Zürich

PhysOrg story (UK)

Website of Pac Car