Okay, so we’ve covered the first lot of solar car results, how about finding out how the Eco Challenge vehicles are going?

The important difference between the two events is that the Eco Challenge is not really a race. Each team is effectively competing against the manufacturer’s stated figures, primarily aiming to show improvements in fuel economy.

At this point, the lowest fuel consumption figure goes to the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic diesel, which reported 3.13 litres/100km over the Katherine to Tennant Creek stage, which (as we know) is 600km plus.

Those low numbers are not spread across the board, with the biggest fuel consumption going to the HSV Maloo Ute (not what many people would think of as a ‘green’ car) which is reporting 8 litres per 100km. While that might sound pretty hefty, it’s actually an improvement of 44.99% on the ADR stated figure. The Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo, another big car, has improved 39.41%, using 7.09 litres over the same distance.

Holden’s other entry, the Sportwagon, is reporting 6.19 litres/100km (an improvement of 33.43%), and the Skoda Superb is using 4.70 litres for an improvement of 31.93%.

While both Hyundai Santa Fe models are reporting very similar numbers (21.77% and 21.23% improvements with the best fuel consumption equalling 5.24 litres/100km), the two Kia Sorento entries are a bit different – one car has improved by 19.72%, while the other reported 26.68% (the best fuel consumption for them was 4.91 litres/100km).

The littler cars are all fairly uniform – while the three Mini D’s are reporting different figures, the best fuel consumption was 3.30 litres/100km (nothing to laugh at!), and the Suzuki Alto achieved 3.88 litres/100km.

Of course, as these results are all for the “conventional” cars, we don’t have figures for the Annesley College hybrid car or the alcohol-fuelled postie bike, but we did see both of them on the road today between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Likewise, our fellow all-electric vehicle from Deep Green has been sharing our generator at several stops, which goes to show the level of camaraderie between the teams, even though technically they’re the competition!

We’ll have more of an update for you later: today was – you guessed it – a long day, full of recharging, but we also squeezed some sight-seeing in there, too! Right now, we have an official welcoming to Alice Springs, which Simon is speaking at, so I’d better wash off some of this red dust and go join the rest of our illustrious crew!

Jessica Citizen