Is this the car of tomorrow? Edison2's Very Light Car takes the top prize - $5 million - as the Progressive Insurance Auto X-Prize wraps up.
Three teams will share a $10 million prize purse from the Progressive Insurance Auto X-Prize, a hotly competitive effort to help promote the development and production of high-efficiency automotive technologies.
The three winners used a mix of lightweight materials, advanced powertrain systems and slick, wind-cheating designs to achieve designs capable of exceeding more than 100 miles per gallon in vehicles that can actually be brought to market in the relative near-term. But did the organizers actually achieve their lofty goals?
A $5 million award was given to the Edison2 team, which took the top honors in the Mainstream Class with Very Light Car #98. Topping an equivalent of 100 mpg, the VLC relied on advanced aerodynamics, a downsized engine and super-light materials that allowed the team to bring the 4-seater’s weight down to just 830 pounds.
Another $5 million was divided up among two classes of “alternative” vehicles.
It gets 187 MPGe, but is the X-Tracer ready for prime time - along with its $2.5 million X-Prize?
Taking home $2.5 million for their Side-by-Side two-seater, the Li-ion Motors Corp. team scored a victory with Wave II. The lithium-powered electric car also relied on lightweight materials, primarily aluminum, to cut weight to 2,176 pounds – a significant feat considering the battery bulk needed to achieve the range mandates of the Auto X-Prize. The vehicle was able to yield an equivalent of 187 mpg (or MPGe) and get a 0 to 60 time of 14.7 seconds.
The X-Tracer Team, from Winterhur, Switzerland, grabbed the final $2.5 million award in the Tandem Class with its X-Tracer. The motorcycle-like vehicle was among the most controversial entered into the prize battle and raises questions about what the Progressive Insurance Auto X-Prize actually achieved.
Modeled after the Orteig Prize, which spurred Charles Lindbergh to fly solo across the Atlantic, and the Ansari X-Prize, which more recently encouraged the first successful private manned space launch, the Auto X-Prize was founded in 2008 to, in sponsors words, “inspire a new generation of viable, safe and super fuel-efficient vehicles.”
“Gas mileage ranks as one of our top concerns when purchasing a new vehicle and I believe strongly that the innovations showcased throughout the life of this competition will continue to impact and improve our car buying options for the future,” explained Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, at the awards ceremony, held in Washington, D.C.
A key requirement for the original 111 teams – who collectively fielded 136 vehicles – was being able to demonstrate that the entries could not only be produced in volume but that they had a seemingly viable business case.
At least several of the entrants are or will be going to market. Amp, an Ohio-based electric vehicle manufacturer, is ramping up production of several different battery cars. Click Here to read TheDetroitBureau.com’s review of its Electric Equinox battery crossover.
But while the X-Tracer already is available in a number of markets, including Europe and the U.S., few would contend that its tandem, motorcycle-style approach will ever be more than a miniscule niche player aimed at the truly eclectic, green-minded of motorists.
Most of the other entries in the two alternative classes were only slightly more realistic as mass-market offerings. They were too slow, too expensive, too difficult to produce, too limited in functionality or simply too weird-looking.
In the mainstream category, which was supposed to be for vehicles closest to reality, the competition was pretty much over from near the beginning. Virtually all the entrants were eliminated early on and for some months the only thing the Edison2 team had to achieve with the Very Light Car was meeting the final requirements, such as 100 miles range.
Arguably, some of the underlying technologies used in these vehicles could prove viable. Indeed, that’s the best opportunity for the X-Prize to prove itself. The entrants offered up an array of technologies and production methods that could have a long-term impact on the automotive market. But don’t expect to be buying any of the winning models at your local auto mall any time soon.