100 MPG

By | April 4, 2007
3 Comments

Enough about the X-Files. Let’s talk about the X Prize…the automotive X Prize, that is. From Slashdot:

The [X Prize] Foundation now plans to offer millions for the first practical car that increases mileage five-fold. The specs for the competition are out in draft form amd call for cars in two categories that are capable of 100 MPG in tests to be run in 2009. The categories are: 4-passenger/4-wheel; and 2-passenger/unspecified wheels. The cars must be manufacturable, not “science projects. The prize is expected to top $10 million. The X Prize Foundation says that so far it has received more than 1,000 inquiries from possible competitors.

More info here. The requirement that it be a truly manufacturable car is important. On the other hand, a 100 mpg car doesn’t have to be all that cheap compared to a 20 mpg car. There’s plenty of room to make that extra cost up on the back end.

The winning entry will almost certainly be a hybrid, but what kind? We’ve spent a lot of time pondering hybrids at the Speculist. Stephen is a big fan of plug-in hybrids. Personally, I don’t think enough attention has been paid to hydraulic systems which “recycle” braking into acceleration. Who knows? The winner might exploit more than one of these ideas.

Then again, there was this tidbit on L2si the other day:

If this guy is legit, he may deliver the environmentally friendly Hummer that I asked for on the most recent FFR.

  • Gramarye

    I don’t know about 4-passenger/4-wheel, but the 2-passenger version I believe is actually already a fait accompli; the Tesla Roadster is a fully electric two-seat vehicle built on the Lotus Elise chassis, powered by LiOH batteries, that not only gets 135MPG equivalent but can also do 0-60 in 4.0 (and look a hell of a lot sexier than the lamentable EV1 in doing so). Governor Schwarzenegger summed it up at one of L.A.’s auto event’s: “It’s hot.” Orders for the first 100 sold out by August of last year, and according to Wikipedia, over 350 have been pre-ordered. Estimated delivery is fall of this year.

    Martin Eberhard and Elon Musk, Silicon Valley uberbazillionaires, are the brains and money behind the project. This is no fly-by-night operation.

    Maybe the Tesla by some technicality doesn’t already meet the standards of the XPrize. In addition, it’s a two-seater, so the four-seater prize would still be up for grabs. Regardless, this seemed like a good place to bring this up because I haven’t seen the Speculist mention anything about Tesla Motors or the Tesla Roadster yet, and it seems like the kind of thing that would be right up the alley of a forum like this.

  • http://www.speculist.com Stephen Gordon

    Yeah, I have to agree with Gramarye. I think they set their sites too low at 100 mpg.

    Last summer Popular Mechanics had a cover story on how it is quite possible to have a 100 mpg nonweird 4-door with today’s technology.

    Maybe they should reissue the challenge at 125 mpg.

  • MDarling

    125?
    The goal should be set at 200. I used to get 35+ mpg on a regular basis in a 1984 Rabbit.

    And the same technology that moves the Tesla could easily move that same rabbit, sans ICE, at very high speeds (unsafe surely) without giving up much in the way of range or charging requirements.

    (Upon further research- the guy witht e HOH motor appears to have patented a perpetual motion design. The idea is not new- and was patented before. At least if the debunkers I found are close. Of course, they probably deny conspiracy theories out of hand.)