Volvo drive around the world virtually via Facebook

Volvo Cars has launched an online contest challenging people to ‘virtually’ drive its uber fuel-efficient C30 DRIVe around the world in 80 days, using only their Facebook friends.

The Swedish automaker will donate 15,000 Euros in the winning team's name to a carbon-offset project promoted by the Myclimate organization. Volvo says the donation is enough to neutralize the amount of carbon dioxide generated by the average person during a lifetime.

With its Start/Stop technology and turbodiesel powertrain, the C30 DRIVe can cover 1,327 km on a tank of fuel. That’s how far each participant must “drive” the car before handing it off to a Facebook friend.

The contest begins today and ends February 5. It can be accessed either by logging on to Volvo's Facebook page or by logging on to the contest directly at apps.facebook.com/drivearoundtheworld.

Volvo says at least a hundred million people log on to Facebook every day. “This 80-days-around-the-world contest can be seen as a type of social experiment; a challenge for the participants to see how well connected they really are.”

"This challenge ties in with Volvo's new campaign ‘There's More To Life Than A Volvo, that's why you drive one' by highlighting how vital our personal connections are in making the world a better place,” said Lukas Dohle, Volvo’s head of live communication and social media. “And when the competition is finally concluded, Volvo will have found arguably the world's most well-connected people,"