Shell FuelSave Celebrity
Driver of the Year Bianca Gonzalez is back to defend her crown in the Shell
FuelSave Fact or Fiction Driving Challenge
MANILA,
FEBRUARY 2015 – “Being a fuel efficient driver is easy. I’m not an expert, just
an ordinary, everyday driver, but through the Shell FuelSave driving challenges,
I learned that making a few simple changes to my driving habits and choosing
the right fuel make a difference in making your fuel last longer,” said
celebrity host and published author Bianca Gonzalez who, after completing
several driving challenges last year, is fast-becoming a veteran when it comes
to fuel efficiency.
Gonzalez
first took on the call of Pilipinas Shell to be a fuel efficient motorist during
the Shell FuelSave Celebrity Driving Challenge in January 2014 where she drove
from Batangas and through the busy streets of Manila to learn about fuel
efficiency from some university students who represented the country in the
first ever Shell Eco-marathon Asia to be held in the Philippines. Gonzalez was
crowned Shell FuelSave Celebrity Driver of the Year, besting celebrities from
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, at the final leg of the Celebrity Driving
Challenge held on the opening day of Shell Eco-marathon 2014.
Gonzalez
went behind the wheel again in October to challenge everyday Filipino motorists
including moms, professional drivers, and media representatives for the Shell FuelSave
Good Choice Driving Challenge. The Driving Challenge tested their skills in
making good choices on the road to help make their fuel last longer where Gonzalez
walked away with a First Runner-up title under her belt.
It
seems that nothing could stop Gonzalez in defending her crown as she teams up
once again with Pilipinas Shell to take on a different kind of challenge –
discovering the extraordinary lengths Filipino motorists go through to save on
fuel, and putting them to the test. With Shell Eco-marathon 2015 coming up,
Gonzalez enlisted the help of five students from universities forming the
Philippine contingent to SEMA 2015 to join her team for the Shell FuelSave Fact
or Fiction Driving Challenge on February 11.
Driving
the recently-launched models of the All New Honda Jazz, All New Honda City, and
All New Honda Brio Amaze, Gonzalez and the students will go head to head against
select media personalities on a road trip to Clark, Pampanga. In this Driving
Challenge, the participants will go through pit stops that will reveal
interesting habits Filipino motorists practice to help them save fuel. The
teams will have to distinguish between fuel efficiency fact and fiction to manage
their fuel consumption, coupled with teamwork and determination, to outwit each
other.
The
Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Driving Challenge is the lead up to Shell Eco-marathon
Asia 2015 as Shell brings back its largest fuel efficiency educational platform
to Manila from February 26 to March 1. This will be the second year that Shell
Eco-marathon Asia will be held in the country, and Filipino student teams from
the country’s top universities will compete once again against fellow students
from countries around Asia and the Middle East to design, build and drive the
most energy efficient vehicles of tomorrow.
The
Philippine teams made history last year when the De La Salle University’s (DLSU)
Eco-Car Team-Electric ranked second place in the UrbanConcept-Battery Electric
Category with a consumption of 66.38 km/kWH, while the Technological Institute
of the Philippines (TIP) also came in as a top contender when TIP Mileage
bested over twelve other teams in the UrbanConcept-Diesel Category by finishing
third with a fuel consumption of 47.44 km/L.
As
these students bring pride to the country once more, the Shell FuelSave Fact or
Fiction Driving Challenge will serve as a platform to present them to the Filipino
public.
The
winner of the Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Driving Challenge will be
determined during the culminating program on February 11. At the same time, Shell
will also reveal highlights of the Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report, a
nationwide study conducted in December 2014 that analyses the behavior of 1,000
Filipino motorists aged 18 to 40 to understand the extraordinary lengths drivers
are willing to go in order to save fuel and cut their driving costs.
“More
than just being any driving competition, the Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction
Driving Challenge is our way of educating Filipino motorists how to become fuel
efficient. All it takes are making a few simple changes to the way we drive and
using the right fuel,” explains Anthony Lawrence Yam, Pilipinas Shell Vice
President for Retail.
“The
Driving Challenge allows our participants to experience Shell FuelSave, and the
Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report shows Filipino motorists what they should
and shouldn’t do when it comes to being more fuel efficient.” Yam added.
Ultimately, Shell wants to show everyday drivers
that choosing the right fuel does not have to be a tough decision, and that
Shell FuelSave is a good choice that they don’t have to think about. All
motorists can be more fuel efficient by driving smarter and using the right
fuel, such as Shell FuelSave – a regular priced fuel designed to last longer.
To
discover top tips on how to make your fuel last longer, visit www.shell.com.ph/fuelsave.
About Shell FuelSave fuels
Shell FuelSave Gasoline and Shell FuelSave Diesel are our regular
priced fuels designed to last longer. Currently available in 22 countries, they
contain active efficiency ingredients and are designed to improve engine
efficiency from the very first tank.
Shell has over 100 years’ experience in creating some of the
world’s most advanced fuels. We are also committed to equipping motorists with
the skills needed to be more fuel efficient. Learn how a few
simple changes to everyday driving habits can help you manage the costs of
motoring by going
to www.shell.com.ph and participating in Target One Million, a
global Shell FuelSave campaign aimed at helping one
million drivers around the world learn
how they can make their fuel last longer.
Royal Dutch Shell plc
Royal Dutch Shell plc
is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is
listed on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges. Shell
companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses
including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of
liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping
of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects. For further
information, visit www.shell.com.
WARMER
GETS YOU FURTHER? New STUDY REVEALS NEARLY ALL (96%) FILIPINOS WARM UP their ENGINES
BEFORE SETTING OFF
MANILA, FEBRUARY 2015: A new study released
today uncovers the extraordinary lengths Filipinos are willing to go to in order
to save fuel and cut their driving costs.
The
Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report, which analyses the behaviour
of 1,000 Filipino drivers aged 18 to 40, reveals that while 92%[1]
see being fuel efficient as important, but 75% admit they don’t know how.
What’s even interesting, more than half (53%)
of the drivers surveyed say they feel anxious trying to decide how best to save
fuel, leading many to believe in a collection of absurd fuel saving myths. The
research shows 80% of drivers believe warming up their engine before setting
off will make them more fuel efficient, while 57% think filling up at night
does the same trick. Shockingly, nearly half (45%) even believe ‘burping’ their
cars to release air pockets in the tank will help them save fuel. Unfortunately
for the majority of the Philippines’ driving population, none of these fuel
efficiency myth help in reducing fuel costs.
Commenting on the findings, Anthony Lawrence Yam,
Vice President for Retail of Pilipinas Shell, says: “The Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report shows just how important saving
fuel has become to motorists, along with the incredible ways they try to be
more fuel efficient. Some of the beliefs revealed through the study were actually
wasting fuel rather than helping to conserve it.”
To help sort fact from fiction, Shell is out to
turn the nation’s myth-followers into fuel efficiency pros – both through using
fuels like Shell FuelSave that are scientifically designed to last longer and by
demonstrating more effective ways to drive smartly.
Drivers are looking to both scientists and
engineers (79%) to help them save fuel and energy in the future, and Shell is
calling on the next generation of Philippine science and engineering talent to
lead the way. Five students from various universities competing
in Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2015 teamed up with Bianca Gonzalez, crowned the
Shell FuelSave Celebrity Driver of the Year in Shell Eco-marathon 2014, and went
head to head with select media from the motoring and lifestyle beats to test the
nation’s most-believed fuel saving myths and reveal the truth about fuel
efficiency with a Fact or Fiction Driving Challenge on February 11. The
complete Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report was revealed in conjunction with
the culmination of this event after the day’s drive full of pit stop challenges
from the city of Manila north bound to Clark, Pampanga.
This test took place before the students compete
against more than 150 teams from Asia and the Middle East in the world’s
biggest fuel efficiency competition to be held on its second year in the
country. Shell Eco-marathon challenges student teams to design, build and test
ultra-energy efficient vehicles of tomorrow.
Bianca Gonzalez says: “As young Filipino scientists
and engineers prepare to compete at Shell Eco-marathon, I want to help Shell
inspire all motorists to learn how
to drive more fuel efficiently. Is switching off your engine in stationary
traffic more effective than keeping it running? Does a warm engine equal a more
efficient engine? And can a car really burp? These are the questions that we
will be aiming to answer.”
The Shell
FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report also reveals that the confusion on the road
is in stark contrast to what goes on inside the nation’s homes, where Filipinos
conserve energy by limiting their electrical use but not their fuel consumption.
Indeed, while 88% of people say they frequently turn off the lights to save
energy when leaving the house, only 4 in 10 (42%) will frequently remove excess
weight from their boot or backseat to make their vehicle lighter and
effectively helping drivers to save on fuel.
To learn more about Shell
Eco-marathon and discover top tips on how to make your fuel last longer, visit www.shell.com.ph/fuelsave.
About the Shell FuelSave Fact or
Fiction Report
The Shell FuelSave Fact or
Fiction Report was commissioned by Shell and conducted by independent research
firm Edelman Berland in December 2014. It used an online questionnaire with a
nationally representative sample of 1,000 Filipino drivers aged 18 to 40.
About Shell FuelSave
Shell
FuelSave Unleaded and Shell FuelSave Diesel are our Regular priced fuels
designed to last longer. Currently available in 23 countries, they contain
active efficiency ingredients and are designed to improve engine efficiency
from the very first tank.
About Shell Eco-marathon Asia
Shell
Eco-marathon Asia will be held on the streets of Manila between 26 February and
1 March 2015. Approximately 150 teams from 18 countries, including 33 teams
from the Philippines will be taking part.
Shell
Eco-marathon began in 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the United States
as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per
gallon from their vehicle. The winner barely achieved 50 mpg (21 km/l) and from
these humble origins a more organised competition evolved. In 1985 in France,
Shell Eco-marathon as we know it today was born. The inaugural Shell
Eco-marathon Asia was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2010 before moving to
the Philippines, in 2014.
[1]
Source for all statistics in this document unless otherwise indicated: The
Shell FuelSave Fact or Fiction Report conducted by Edelman Berland, December
2014.