Wednesday morning I left Edmonton, on the quest for 100 mpg. I was happy to be on the road and heading into the prairies. I filled in Vegreville, AB, and wasn’t surprised to get only 81 mpg. From here on though, it was to be very light-footed. I tossed on a Joni Mitchell cd, and was happy to be under the beautiful sun fluffy clouds. The kms passed by, quietly. (more…)

This picture was taken in North Battleford, SK on the afternoon of August 31:

It’s 2:35 am AB time. I am at staying near downtown Edmonton tonight at another smart car owners place. Today began in Barriere. A late departure and a couple other neccessary stops pressured me into driving substantially faster than usual - I normally don’t go much over 90 kmh. I still managed to squeak out a 3.4 L/100km result in Hinton, although I expect my next fill in Edmonton will yield a less efficient result.

Derek, who goes by the name HIGHBOOST at Club smart car, has an all black pure cabriolet… we got a 2-for-1 deal on parking tonight: (more…)

The Jasper area is a place I would dearly love to spend any amount of time visiting.

For those following this project, some may want to know where to check up on the actual fuel economy I am getting.

You can view the fuel economy for the 100 MPG Challenge by clicking the link on the right-hand sidebar that looks like this:

I have created a separate ‘car’ at the German site www.spritmonitor.de for the duration of this cross-Canada journey. You can view the fuel economy for the first 26,000 kms the car was driven here. Mention must be made of the help that Mike T from Ladysmith, BC is providing in getting the fuel economy stats site updated. I am able to phone my numbers into Mike, and he updates them for me online - and you in turn have access to them sooner than if I waited until I access the internet. Mike is also my technical advisor on vehicle issues.

BTW - there appears to be a lack of smart cars in Hinton, AB. A few guys from the Shell station where I filled up today were quite impressed that the car was getting 84 mpg, after initially wondering ‘what is this car?’. I gave them a One-Tonne Challenge brochure and this websites url. Maybe they won’t buy an F150 in the future?

Additional information and articles on fuel economy will appear shortly.

BTW, here’s another way to get great fuel economy:

After returning from Vancouver Island on August 29th, I finished packing, loaded the car, and my last Abbotsford supper. I was originally to stay in Kamloops, but I sent a quick e-mail to my friend Wylie, who arranged a place for me to stay in Barriere - at his parents. Cliff and Bernice are exceptionally nice people. Cliff is a home church pastor, and the family has their home up for sale so he can move closer to Kamloops. (And save GHG - and money - he readily agreed.) Pictures below is Wylie’s brother Jordan. I left the family with a One-Tonne Challenge brochure after letting Jordan circle the neighbourhood.

Incidently, you might be interested to read about this family that is seriously taking the One-Tonne Challenge, whether they know it or not. Bernice gave me this link when I was in Barriere.

Monday August 29th saw Deana and I return from Vancouver Island via Horseshoe Bay. Arriving in Abbotsford to load up the car with everything, I had the opportuntiy to meet with City of Abbotsford staff.

Mayor Mary Reeves was on hand to present me with an official letter, recognizing the opportunity this Challenge will bring to spread the word on climate change issues.

The City has been very supportive of this project. They are providing some administrative support for events that will happen in other cities, and providing communications and media release services. I want to thank the One-Tonne Challenge Committee for thinking outside of the box with regards to this awareness effort.

Interesting note: There was one tourist from Germany who showed up for the ’sending off’. This fellow arrived in an older Jetta diesel he had bought back east for his travels within Canada. Turns out he had seen a little article in the Abbotsford News about the event - announcing (incorrectly) A ‘100 MPH Challenge’ in a smart car. Needless to say, he turned out to be a Daimler-Chrysler retiree, and also happens to own a rare smart Crossblade. He previously owned a 1998 Limited One smart city coupe. (One of the older/original smart cars in Europe.) Perhaps he will bring the Crossblade here for six months sometime in the future…

On Sunday August 28th I departed from Abbotsford in the wee hours, and caught a ferry with my girlfriend Deana to Victoria. A group of smart car owners gathered at ‘Mile 0′ in Victoria, BC for the official beginning of the 100 MPG Challenge. My mother Val and her husband Ken were there as well.

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We received this story from Craig Brooks of Welland, Ontario today:

My commute to work is 216 kms round trip, 5 days per week. The commute is 90% secondary highways, posted speed limit of 80 km/hr with intermittent lights and stop signs. The remaining 10% is in city / town stop and go. I currently work for an industrial dust collection system manufacturer doing design and estimating.

We picked up our smart car April 8th. The car was a dealer orphan and I picked it from the dealers showroom. It is a Black / Blue pulse with the only option being the Metallic paint. The car was purchased primarily for the fuel savings it could provide us with. This is really only part of the reason, for fuel savings we could have bought an Echo for less money, but I had fallen in love with the car after seeing it for the first time during an episode of “The Amazing Race”

I previously drove a 1997 F-150 4.2litre extended cab. I had been driving that vehicle for about six years. We still have the truck at home, as it has 383,000 kms on it, and we could not trade it in. It is occasionally required for work the car cannot perform i.e. towing the boat, and for dive trips where three or four divers and their gear must be moved. (more…)

On Sunday August 28th, Keith Hebert will be heading from Abbotsford to Victoria to officially begin the 100 MPG Challenge.

A group of fellow smart car owners from Club smart car will be getting together for the grand opening of the new smart centre in Victoria at Three Point Motors, 2546 Government Street.

After this event, a convoy of smart cars will go to mile zero with Keith, and then some will even head north to Duncan (home of Canada’s most enlightened parking regulations), as he logs his first of an anticipated 15,000 kilometres over the next 33 days. (more…)