Super-Cars Split $10 Million in X Prize Race
September 15th, 2012Via: NBC:
A four-seat car that gets 102 miles per gallon is the top winner in a $10 million contest designed to encourage the development of ultra-efficient automobiles.
Edison2, a team of racing engineers from Lynchburg, Va., won the $5 million prize in the mainstream-vehicle category of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. The winners were announced here on Thursday at a ceremony attended by organizers, teams and politicians hoping to bask in the reflected glory of the teams’ achievements.
The winners in two of the three prize categories — Edison2 and Swiss-based X-Tracer — were a foregone conclusion because they were the last surviving entrants. The third winner, Li-ion Motors of Mooresville, N.C., squeaked out a slim victory.
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In the end, the Edison2 team claimed the top spot in the mainstream category for cars that seat four people, can carry 10 cubic feet of luggage, have a 200-mile driving range, can accelerate to 60 mph in less than 15 seconds and have a heater, air conditioner and stereo system. The goal is for the mainstream cars to meet most functional requirements for typical drivers while delivering at least 100 miles per gallon.
Perhaps most impressively, the Edison2 team said that the technologies used in its Very Light Car could be put into a production model that would eventually sell for less that $20,000.
