13 Incredibly Efficient Vehicles, All Built By High School And College Students

Feeling hopeless about humanity’s prospects for surviving another century? The annual Shell Eco-Marathon is a balm for the jaded environmentalist’s soul. The competition, held this year in Houston, Texas, challenged high school and college students to “build a vehicle that could go the farthest using the least amount of energy through the streets of downtown Houston.” There were 14 first place winners in two categories: one-seater prototype vehicles and four-wheeled fuel economy vehicles that look like what’s on the road today. One high school team performed the impressive feat of getting 2,188 miles per gallon out of a gasoline-powered vehicle. Click the photos above to take a look at all the winners, culled from 113 total vehicles. If you’re having trouble seeing the captions, try scrolling down, they’re probably just hiding.