Summer 2009: The One Gallon Challenge

Jun 3, 2009

Summer 2009: The One Gallon Challenge

Categories: event, Uncategorized

Written By: roo

http://home.myfairpoint.net/vze6omtd/jorysquibb/id24.html

This summer, on Aug 19-22, 2009, and unusual road rally will take place in Western Massachusetts, which will give the public a first glimpse of new-generation ultra-economical cars. It’s called the One Gallon Challenge.
We have rented an old hunting lodge on the banks of the Connecticut River near Greenfield, Mass. to be our base camp. Entry cars will gather there on Wednesday August 19 and be on display in downtown Greenfield 4-6 PM. Wednesday evening we will have a barbeque back at the Lodge, explain the details of the Rally, and get acquainted with other participants. Cars will be fueled up/charged up at this point.

On Thursday morning Aug 20, the cars, now with odometers and energy gauges zeroed, will re-assemble in the middle of Greenfield, the checkered flag will go down about 11AM, and a 100 mile drive on country roads to Boston’s Greenfest at Boston City Hall Plaza will begin. Once there, they will be on display all day Friday and Saturday, showing how much energy they consumed during the trip. Some, having run out of fuel, may finish the last part of the trip on trailers, but all will be on display in Boston for the public and press. Travel time will be limited to 3 hours, to encourage normal driving techniques.

At this writing, May 17, we are particularly looking for participants. We hope to have about 15 cars, some from the upcoming Progressive Automotive X Prize. I will post details of the entrants as their plans jell. Moonbeam will be there, showing off 1980’s technology, as well as two other three-wheel lightweight diesel vehicles: Dirigo and the Roopod. see www.roopod.com. There seems to be a run on three-wheelers with Gaia Transport and Exertrike both bringing cars. At the other end of the weight scale will be the Green Giant from the Physics Lab of Lake Havasu. It’s great for me, as a lover of light-weight, to withold judgement, and just see what those 100 back-road miles tell us about these cars.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/05/22/one-gallon-challenge-sort-of-an-x-prize-lite-coming-to-massach

Here is the official entry form!!!

Thanks you so much for your interest in the One Gallon Challenge!

Hearing enthusiastically from you 13 car builders has enabled us to go ahead with plans for the Challenge. I have purposely sent this email with your addresses exposed, so you can see who may be coming, so far. As publicity gets cranked up, I’m hoping for a few more.

What follows is our plan for the Challenge at this point in time. At the end of this email you will find information on registration, and a registration form.

We have booked Schutzen Verain, as our base camp in Greenfield, MA.

It is an old hunting camp on the banks of the Connecticut River, 3 miles from downtown. It has many acres for camping, trailers, and we have planned two inexpensive meals there: a barbecue Wednesday evening Aug 19 and a breakfast the next morning. It’s about 3 miles East of Greenfield on Route 2 and uses the same entrance as the Barton Cove Campground. Your group, of any size, may camp there for free, or stay in nearby lodgings if your bones are beyond camping.

You should plan to arrive at this base camp on Wednesday, Aug 19 by 2:30PM. We will show off our cars in downtown Greenfield from 4 to 6 PM in the Miles Street Parking lot with press and public welcome. We will leave in convoy from our base camp around 3:30 PM. After the display we will return to base camp. There we’ll have dinner, explain the rally details, get to know the other teams, and settle in for the night. There are good hiking and swimming opportunities on

the site. Families are welcome. The area is hilly and full of

rivers–a fun place to explore.

On Thursday, with our cars charged/fuelled up for the rally, we will travel together from our base camp to the same little park in

Greenfield. We’ll have a send-off there from 10AM to Noon, when

the Challenge itself will begin. We may have some escorting cars, but you will probably want to have your trailer make the journey

simultaneously to Boston. The trip will be 100 miles or so, and you

may reload your car on its trailer at any point in the journey, if you run out of energy. We will all end up in Boston City Hall Plaza for the night. The cars will be safe there with 24 hour security. We will have suggestions for inexpensive lodging in the Boston area.

The Boston Greenfest takes place on Friday and Saturday from 10 until 6. The cars will be displayed under a tent, and you are free to meet as much or little of the Press and Public as you wish. I’ve attended many of these events in the past with “Moonbeam” and I’ve found the intense public exposure both fun and exhausting. You’ll find some hints late on this page: http://home.myfairpoint.net/vze6omtd/

jorysquibb/id18.html

Your car will display a placard showing miles driven, energy used, and an MPG equivalent. All contestants will receive a medallion for their participation. We don’t want to single out a “winner” since all of our efforts are part of the change process.

What we need is to know that you are coming!.

And, if you are, we need your registration, your favorite photo and a description of the car, for our publicity.

Registration fees:

$50 until July 1 Note this early bird discount!

$75 from July 1-July 15

Please send your registration fee and registration form to:

Jory Squibb, 13 Pleasant Ridge, Camden, ME 04843.

The early bird registration fee is refundable if you have problems, but it should represent about a 90% certainty of bringing a registered, road-worthy vehicle to the rally.

Feel free to email or call at 207 236-8962 if you need additional

details. I plan to keep my website, moonbeamplans.com up-to-date

on the rally page. Once we know who’s coming, we’ll keep you

updated with details, places to stay, a press release, etc. by email.

I’m very much looking forward to this event, which I hope will be informal, co-operative more than competitive, and fun. It will allow the public to glimpse an amazing reality: that cars can be built today which are 3-4 times more efficient that those currently available.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

Sincerely, Jory Squibb

REGISTRATION FORM

The One Gallon Challenge. Greenfield to Greenfest

August 19-22, 2009

Send to: Jory Squibb; 13 Pleasant Ridge; Camden, ME 04843

Name_______________________________________

Company____________________________________

Car’s Name__________________________________

Address_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Phones: work________________________________