On May 11, local artist and alternative car enthusiast C. Michael Lewis will once again take part in the 18th annual Tour de Sol Green Car Show and Competition. The Tour de Sol, organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association in Greenfield, Massachusetts, was a popular nationwide traveling show back when electric cars were so new they seemed space-age, but in recent years de Sol has lost some of its most prominent sponsors (including General Motors and DaimlerChrysler) and is now limited to one site at Saratoga Spa State Park in New York. Despite the troubles at de Sol, the four-day event still attracts hundreds of eco-car fanatics and their sweet rides.
Lewis will compete in the Monte-Carlo-style Drive-In Rally in his Honda Insight, a gasoline-electric hybrid. (There are also competitions among electric-only, solar cars, and other types.) To win, he’ll have to out-conserve more than 30 other drivers in Toyota Priuses, Honda Insights, Honda Civic Hybrids, and Ford Escape Hybrids. Drivers start from various points around the country and “race” toward the finish line in Saratoga. The hybrid with the best gas mileage wins a cash prize and a plastic trophy with a cardboard cut-out of the year at the top. Lewis already has a trophy with “2005” at the top, which he won at the inaugural rally, and he hopes to add “2006” to his collection.
“To win the event, you’re probably going to have to get 90 miles to the gallon,” says Lewis, who plans to start somewhere in Massachusetts. On the highway, the Honda Insight hums along at an average of 66 miles per gallon, according to federal regulators, whose estimates have been criticized for being unreliable.
How does he plan to get 90 miles to the gallon?
“What I tell people is take a piping hot cup of coffee, fill it to the rim, and drive around town,” Lewis explains. “That’s how you save gas.” In other words, in this race there’ll be no sudden stops and no sharp accelerations. But Lewis and his 10-year-old son Mica plan to wear their racing helmets anyway. They’re not kidding.
Win or lose, Lewis is already excited about another car race, this one closer to home. On May 21, he’ll climb into his homemade electric car to tear up the track against competitors supplied mostly by area high schools at the Electrathon electric car race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough.
