Automotive X-Prize Field Narrows - 104 Teams Out Since Contest Began
By John O'Dell July 29, 2010
Now there are nine.
That's the number of cars moving on to the Progressive Automotive X Prize final stage next month after passing safety requirements and achieving fuel economy of at least 90 miles per gasoline-gallon-equivalent in tests at Michigan International Speedway this week.
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Edison2 team's Very Light Vehicle is finalist in Progressive Automotive X-Prize competition.
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The cars are being fielded by 7 teams - down from 111 that began the year-long competition - with just a single team, Virginia-based Edison2, in the running for the too prize of $5 million for a mainstream auto ( four wheels, at least four seats, freeway legal...) that can achieve the equivalent of at least 100 miles per gallon fuel economy.
Edison2 has two cars battling it out for the $5 million "mainstream" prize that will be determined in the "validation" stage, in which the cars will need not only to achieve the 100 miles per gallon fuel efficiency but also meet tough emissions standards in dynamometer testing at the U.S. Energy Department's Argonne National Laboratory, contest organizers said this week.
Despite the team's name, Edison2's cars both use E85-burning combustion engines, not electric motors.
As for X Prize's two "alternative" categories whose winners will receive $2.5 million each, Switzerland's X-Tracer team's two cars will advance in the "tandem" category (two-seater cars with one seat behind the other), while Southern California-based Aptera, North Carolina's Li-ion Motors, Finland's RaceAbout Association, Northern California's ZAP and Germany's TW4XP each will send one vehicle to the validation trials in the "side-by-side" alternative category.
All are battery-electric vehicles, although the German teams calls their vehicle a "human-hybrid" because it has pedals that can be pumped by the occupants to increase its range.
Li-ion Motors' battery-electric car achieved the best fuel economy of all the contest vehicles tested this week, achieving 171.4 miles per gallon-equivalent, the company said.
Progressive has been sponsoring or co-sponsoring a series of contests designed to further the development of vehicles that can cut petroleum use through alternative fuels, physical design and other technological improvements.
The Automotive X Prize rewards the teams that can produce prototype cars that can achieve fuel economy of 100 miles per gallon and have a realistic business case for mass production.
The winners of the contest - if any of the vehicles make it through the validation stage - will be announced Sept. 16 in Washington D.C.
Danny King, Contributo
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