X Prize cars back on track

[n2doc]

The organizers of a $10 million contest for super-efficient cars are bringing two dozen teams back to a Michigan racetrack this week for the second round of trials. And this time, they're keeping score. You can keep track of the scores yourself during the Knockout round of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize.

This won't be like the typical auto race, where the first one across the finish line is the winner, no matter how much fuel is burned. These cars also have to satisfy standards for fuel efficiency, range, emissions and marketability. The key requirement is that the cars get 100 miles per gallon of gas or its equivalent (MPGe). They can run on gasoline, or biofuel, or all-electric power - and the organizers have set up a formula for calculating how much electricity is equivalent to a gallon of gas. The setup is laid out in the X Prize Foundation's contest guidelines.

Most of the cars that have come to the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., survived the initial Shakedown tests that were conducted at the same track in April and May. Two European teams missed out on the Shakedown because of the air-traffic jam created by the Icelandic ash cloud. Seven other teams couldn't satisfy all the Shakedown requirements last month but were kept in the competition. Those teams were given makeup exams last week, and this week they'll find out if they can move on to the Knockout stage.

The competition is broken up into two classes of vehicles, "mainstream" four-seaters and "alternative" two-seaters, with Progressive's $10 million purse shared equally between those classes. During the Knockout stage's on-track tests, the mainstream X Prize cars will have to prove they can hit 67 MPGe, two-thirds of the ultimate goal. They'll also have to go for 134 miles without refueling - again, two-thirds of the ultimate goal of a 200-mile range. The two-seaters have the same mileage standard to meet, and they'll have to go 67 miles without refueling. Eventually the alternative cars will have to demonstrate a range of, you guessed it, 100 miles.

more

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/21/4530115-x-prize-cars-back-on-track

[NYC_SKP]

1. K and R and Direct link here to the x prize site:

http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/

:hi: