Having won third most fuel efficient vehicle in the 26th Shell Eco Marathon, students from Sakayara University in Turkey plan to compete in this year's Global Green Challenge with an improved version of their hydrogen powered vehicle named SAHIMO. The 1,800 mile trek through the Australian desert will be a test of durability and fuel efficiency for about twenty electric, hybrid, and alternative fuel vehicles.

The SAHIMO vehicle is undergoing improvements which its student engineers predict will enable the vehicle to traverse the desert route using only about two-thirds of a gallon of hydrogen; that is a fuel efficiency rating of 2,352-mpg. Besides the amazing fuel economy of a fuel cell powered vehicle, another factor which makes the vehicle so fuel-stingy is the fact that the SAHIMO only weighs 242 pounds.

The carbon-fiber vehicle evolved from a class assignment, the cost of which has by now ballooned to about $170,000. Not only does the vehicle promise to win in the category of fuel efficiency, by the nature of its fuel cell technology, it produces no emissions besides water.