March 2, 2010
Contact: Amy Hewes, ahewes@calpoly.edu
Cal Poly Getting the 'Black Widow' Ready for Shell Supermileage Competition
The 2008 Shell Supermileage Team and the Black Widow.
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The Cal Poly Supermileage Team is fine tuning its famous 'Black Widow' for the Shell Eco-Marathon March 26-28 in Houston, Texas.
In 2008, with a whopping 2,752.3 miles per gallon, Cal Poly’s ‘Supermileage’ car finished second place in the competition. In 2007, Cal Poly's "Black Widow" took first place with an impressive 1,902.7 mpg.
Cal Poly's College of Engineering has fielded the ultra high-mileage, three-wheeled car nicknamed "The Black Widow" in the Eco-Marathon's student competition since 2005. This year's team is looking for another first-place finish.
The Cal Poly Supermileage Team combines students from a senior project team and a department club to work on vehicles that are misers in fuel use. This year, the team is working on two cars: the Black Widow (shown above), which took first place in the 2007 Eco-Marathon and second place in 2008 and 2009, and a new three-wheeler for the competition’s Urban Concept category.
Visit the 2010 Supermilage Team Blog
Read the February WIRED Magazine story on Cal Poly and the Black Widow Supermileage team