A team of students from Brigham Young University in the United States has built a small experimental car that can travel more than 900 kilometers on just one liter of fuel.
The car, called Supermileage ICE, recorded 911.9 km/l at the 2026 Shell Eco-marathon event. In American fuel economy terms, that equals around 2,145 miles per gallon.
The achievement sounds almost unbelievable, but there is an important point to understand: this is not a normal road car. It is a lightweight prototype made only for maximum fuel efficiency.
Built for Efficiency, Not Daily Use
The student-built car weighs around 49 kg and uses a highly aerodynamic body to reduce drag. It is a single-seat vehicle and reportedly uses a very small 30 ml fuel tank.
The car also has a limited top speed of around 37 km/h, which clearly shows that it is not designed for regular roads, city traffic, highways, or family use.
In simple terms, this is an engineering project, not a production vehicle.
Not a Petrol Car in the Usual Sense
Some reports have described it as a car that can travel more than 900 km on 1 liter of petrol. However, Shell Eco-marathon’s official results list BYU’s vehicle in the ethanol category.
That means it is better to describe it as a car that travels over 900 km on one liter of fuel, rather than regular petrol.
Still, the result is impressive because it shows how much fuel economy can improve when engineers focus completely on weight reduction, aerodynamics, and engine efficiency.
What This Experiment Actually Proves
Cars like this are not built to be sold in showrooms. They are made to test ideas.
The BYU project shows how students and engineers can reduce fuel use by making a vehicle lighter, smoother, and more efficient. These lessons can later help improve normal cars, hybrids, and even electric vehicles.
It also proves that internal combustion engines still have room for improvement, even as the global auto industry moves toward hybrids and EVs.
What Pakistan Can Learn From Extreme Efficiency
For Pakistan, this story is interesting because fuel economy is one of the biggest concerns for local car buyers. With high fuel prices, many people now prefer smaller cars, hybrids, or fuel-efficient imports.
Of course, a 900 km/l prototype cannot be compared with an Alto, City, Corolla, Aqua, or any regular family car. Pakistani roads, traffic, air conditioning use, and vehicle weight make such numbers impossible in daily driving.
But the idea behind the project still matters. Better engineering, lighter cars, and more efficient engines can help reduce fuel costs for buyers.
At a time when Pakistani consumers are under pressure from rising car prices and expensive fuel, any improvement in fuel efficiency becomes important.
Impressive, But Not a Showroom Reality
The BYU Supermileage ICE is not the future of daily driving, but it is a strong example of what focused engineering can achieve.
It will not replace normal cars, and it will not appear in showrooms anytime soon. But it does show that fuel efficiency still has plenty of room to improve.
For a market like Pakistan, where every kilometer per liter matters, that is still a story worth paying attention to.
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