(taken from the Tico Times Newspaper)
March 23, 2001

More than 30 electric cars and motorcycles piloted by contestants from six netions will take part here this week in an unprecedented Caribbean-to-Pacific road rally to have fun while raising consciousness about these silent, clean-burning vehicles.

Contestants will leave at 8:30 a.m. March 28 from the south Carribean community of Puerto Viejo, head north to Cahuita and Limon and then west, along the Braulio Carrillo highway to EARTH University, Guapiles and then on through San Jose to the Pacific port city of Puntarenas.

The rally arrives in San José March 30. It will depart from the Municipal building on Ave. 10 and proceed east down Paseo Colon, Ave. 2, Paseo de los Estudiantes and Parque de la Paz, and then along the San Jose beltway (the traffic-circle route) to the Universidad de Costa Rica and the court building in Goicoechea de Guadalupe before heading to Moravia and Tibas to it's final metro-area destination: INBio in Santo Domingo de Heredia.

The rally leaves from INBio March 31 for the communities of Heredia, Alajuela and San Ramon, where contestants will spend the night. Sunday, April 1, drivers will leave San Ramon for Esparza and Puntarenas. All departure times are set for 8:30 a.m.

The Costa Rica Foundation for Sustainable Development (entebbe) is the event's main organizer. Sponsors include: Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), Earth University, Amnet, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Pizza Hut and Ministerio de Minas y Energías (MINAE).

Teams from Costa Rica, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Canada and the U.S. will compete with both completely electric and "hybrid" vehicles that combine electrically charged batteries with some type of internal combustion fuel.

Contestants will be judged and awarded not for who arrives first, but for overall energy efficiency, a complex equation that contemplates distance, speed and energy consumed.