Jalopnik
Today in the Javits Center during the 2008 New York Auto Show, X Prize Foundation President Dr. Peter Diamandis, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, announced Progressive will be the corporate sponsor of the long stewing Automotive X prize. The Progressive Automotive X Prize will award $10 million to the winning team after a head-to-head competition scheduled to happen sometime in 2009. The entries must be safe, production capable, and deliver at least 100 mpg. The teams will compete in three different classes — a mainstream class for four wheel, four passenger entries, an Alternative class to push the boundaries of technology, and in 2011, a manufacturers prize for established companies.
The qualified entrants will compete for the giant wad of all-Progressive supplied cash in a variety of real world challenges in the categories of speed, distance, traffic, terrain, and weather. Everybody and his brother is in on this one — The US House and Senate have already approved NTSB, DOT, DOE backing with the DOE tossing $3.5 million in grant money into the fold for education of youth and consumers.; The Sierra Club and NRDC support grassroots efforts; Individuals like Al Gore, Dean Kamen (who will be entering and sits on the Automotive X Prize Board), the Governator, and many more are putting their voices behind the effort.
There are already 64 pledged entrants from 22 countries and 10 US states from private, college, and even high school groups. Four examples of which were present at the show, The Venture 1, the first look at the MDI Air Car, a Ale from France, and the "Hybrid Attack" - a diesel electric hybrid built by a team from the West Philly High School. The applications will begin being accepted starting in two months, so if you want a shot at 10 million bucks, you better start filling out the paperwork now. Find out all the nitty gritty details at ProgressiveXPrize.org.
Comments
The coilovers (?) peaking out of that hot little maroon number's hood is like catching a glimpse of a supermodel's nipple.
No one tell them they're showing, less they hide it!
"Progressive X Price". Somehow, that tickles me.
I wanna hear the air-powered car run. I'll bet it sounds like elevendy-million whoopie cushions.
That hot little maroon number looks a lot like a car I saw on some Science Channel show. It was being worked on by a bunch of inner city magnet school kids. It was neon green though...
@shocker: Note the name emblazoned on lower air dam.
Haven't checked the actual testing conditions, but really 100mpg shouldn't be all that hard in a nicely shaped mostly-plastic car with a 1L diesel engine.
Sure, you're not going to win any races and you're toast if a ladder-frame vehicle hits you...but otherwise you're in good shape.
Building a car that can do 100MPG is easy. I could probbably do it.
Building a car that's safe AND gets 100mpg - now that's a problem.
I have to admit I'm in love with the center-steering all-abs French air car. It's a fisher-price toddler car writ large and it looks like you could detail the interior with a garden hose and a ratty towel. Also the white three-wheeler looks like it also serves as one-fifth of a giant lion robot.
Progressive customers can sleep well knowing that their insurance premiums aren't exactly being used to insure their cars.
@Spasticteapot: Building a safe car that gets 100mpg is probably pretty easy. Building a safe 100mpger that people will buy or be able to buy is the hard part. I noticed there was no category for production feasibility.
@79TA: Just like that ad agency...what is it...yeah, "Geico"
@Nayrlladnar: it is. It's a kit car body from some Eastern Bloc country. I actually think it's kinda cool too, but some of the details are overworked.
@Spasticteapot: right- that's the whole challenging part- that and the production requirements. There are some builders that will therefore be left out of it (Aptera). It makes it a more valid competition, because the safety/production issues are the main reason we don't have a legit high-mpg car yet.
I'm puttin' my money on the Tango:
[www.progressiveautoxprize.org]
Cuz that's how I roll.
[www.coroflot.com]
@Andrewpetty: Reading comprehesion, not just for standardized tests anymore:
"The entries must be safe, production capable, and deliver at least 100 mpg."
Although, I'd imagine the X-Prize definition of "production capable" may differ from what a real manufacturing director might have in mind.
That green air-'car' looks like a PowerWheels. Or this.
People keep forgetting to point out the total (wells-to-wheels) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions expressed as equivalent grams of CO2 per mile: no more than 200 g/mi. Criteria emissions: no worse than US EPA Tier II, bin 5 standards. A simple 1.5l diesel probably won't be able to meet that. A hybrid can probably easily get that no problem though, but the 100mpg is still going to be hard.
Also this:
MAINSTREAM CLASS REQUIREMENTS
Capacity: 4 or more passengers (95th percentile adult male) and 10 cubic feet of useful cargo space
Wheels: 4 or more wheels
Performance: 0-60 mph acceleration in less than 12 seconds, minimum top speed 100 mph, minimum range 200 miles, 60 - 0 MPH braking in no more than 170 feet, lateral acceleration (300-ft-dia skidpad) 0.70 g, 600 ft slalom (Motor Trend) speed 55 MPH, gradeability 55 MPH on a 7.5% grade, noise levels within drive-by standards (74 decibels max)
Features: Heater, air-conditioner, audio system, real-time eco-feedback display5
@mikedrawcar:
Aptera gets around the problem with their 3 wheels. For most state governments (and the NHTSA), that makes it a motorcycle. You can't exactly expect a bike to pass crash tests, so that gets them out of all the expensive safety requirements.
@Mad_Science: "but really 100mpg shouldn't be all that hard in a nicely shaped mostly-plastic car with a 1L diesel engine."
You mean like, the VW 1L that gets 200+ mpg already? In that case VW has already won. Because half those cars it looks like FAIL the second requirement. It has to have FOUR wheels.
I should start my own blog site. Glad to see you guys caught up.
@Mad_Science: Easy. Just get the insurance companies to turn it into the only car dumb drivers can afford to insure, and there will be a market for it.
Hit too many people this year? Got too many speeding tickets? Thought you could talk yer way out of a DUI? End up in a ditch once too often? Sorry your insurance premium just doubled, or worse... but you can cover this sweet little ride for pocket change!
Give the idiots something small and lightweight, and they'll just bounce off each other.
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