GM Volt Forum banner

Automotive X Prize contestants announced.

23K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  IamIan 
#1 ·
Automotive X Prize contestants announced:

Link

Not sure what parameters are going to be valued - energy efficiency, cost efficiency, performance, etc., but it will be interesting to see a Tesla Roadster perform next to an MDI Air Car, or even the Aptera Type1e.
 
#3 ·
IIRC, one of the earlier stated requirements of winning the automotive X Prize is the capability to mass produce the vehicles very cheaply or very affordable for the masses. I don't know if this major requirement has been lost as the lawyer techies tried to rewrite the original rules in more details, and they forgot the big picture completely.
 
#7 ·
I disagree. I don't care if you can sell a $110,000 car for a profit to 10 people a week. It will have zero impact on oil use. Zero.

We need a car that can be sold for < $40,000 to have any real effect. In order to get America off of gas we need to have at least 50,000,000 of these on the road. $40k is too high for that but I assume $40k now means $25k in 10 years with tech development and savings from mass production.
 
#5 ·
Anything can be profitable, just fudge the numbers....

Anyway, thanks for the link Jason. I have seen an official entry for an Air Car! We will soon know enough of how it will perform. I'm still doubtful that it will be able to finish the race, but that's official entry there, so skeptics, be prepared, one way or another!
 
#6 ·
From the article-
The independent and technology-neutral AXP competition is open to teams from around the world to prove they can design, build and bring to market 100 MPG or equivalent fuel economy vehicles that people want to buy. Industry experts will scrutinize team plans. Those that qualify will race their vehicles in rigorous crosscountry stages that combine speed, distance, urban driving and overall performance. The winners will be the vehicles that exceed 100 MPG equivalent, fall under strict emissions caps and finish in the fastest time.
This little qualification should narrow the playing field down to just a few. It is too bad the Volt won't be there.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I remember reading a commentary from Tesla on the subject of entering the contest for the X-prize but they didn't think they would meet the emissions quotas because just because you use all electricity doesn't mean your fuel doesn't produce C02 and the X-prize judges are taking that into account.

But reading the list, it looks like they decided to sign up anyway. I looked at the website of a lot of those competitors and they all make pretty extraordinary claims. Should be an exciting race. I hope it's televised.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Genius of the X Prize Concept

Name another approach to develop 30+ prototypes that are intended to revolutionize personal transportation for less $10 Million Dollars? Like the DARPA grand challenge, the X-prize show cases the synergy that is possible when one uses competition to win a cash award -- it's pure genius. I wonder what the development costs of these 30+ prototypes add up too? I guarantee it is more than $10 Million! As far as I'm concerned, the X-prize foundation deserves a noble peace prize.

From the Draft guidelines:

OVERVIEW OF THE AUTOMOTIVE X PRIZE (AXP)

Here we give an overall summary of the AXP. Details are covered elsewhere in this document.

The goal of the Automotive X PRIZE (AXP) is to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change.

A multi-million dollar1 cash purse will be awarded to the teams that win a long-distance stage race for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 MPG equivalent (MPGe)2.

The AXP will encourage production-capable vehicles and products (not concept cars) through tough entrance requirements, judging criteria, and race courses that test and reward manufacturability, marketability, safety, durability and performance.

The AXP will devote considerable traditional and online media resources to public outreach, education, and involvement.

ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

AXP winners must achieve the following energy and emissions requirements:

• Fuel economy (energy efficiency): at least 100 MPGe
• Total (wells-to-wheels3) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions expressed as equivalent grams of CO2 per mile: no more than 200 g/mi
• Criteria emissions: no worse than US EPA Tier II, bin 5 standards
• GHG emissions from vehicle production no worse than typical vehicles in production today

PRODUCTION CAPABLE VEHICLES

Our goals require that AXP vehicles be designed to reach the market. Accordingly, all vehicles entered into the AXP competition must be “production capable” as judged by the following criteria:

Safety: Vehicles must be designed to meet safety regulations in the U.S. and other markets
Cost: Vehicle cost at a production rate of 10,000 units per year must be within levels that the market is likely to bear
Features: Vehicles must be desirable, addressing the most important features and factors consumers consider when purchasing an automobile
Business Plan: Teams must articulate clear and viable business cases for bringing their vehicles to market

VEHICLE CLASSES

The AXP will offer two vehicle classes: Mainstream and Alternative. The classes have the same requirements for fuel economy and emissions, but different design constraints.

Mainstream class – 4+ passenger vehicles with 4+ wheels that meet conventional expectations for size and capability

Alternative class – An outlet for innovative ideas that push forward today's conventions about automotive transportation (2+ passengers, no requirement on number of wheels)

RACE SERIES

The key AXP public events will be two dramatic, long-distance stage races to be held in 2009 – the Qualifying Race and the Grand Prize Final. The race courses will reflect typical consumer driving patterns during numerous stages, in varied terrain, communities, and weather conditions. The courses will enable fair, technology-neutral evaluation of competing vehicles while maximizing public impact. Vehicles will use AXP-supplied fuel.

To complete a race successfully, vehicles must complete all race stages with a minimum average speed (maximum allowable time) while meeting the AXP requirements for fuel economy and emissions averaged over all scoring stages. For those vehicles that successfully complete the race, race placement will be determined by the total race time averaged over all scoring stages. Thus, the fastest vehicle will be the winner. Vehicles that do not maintain the AXP requirements for MPGe fuel economy will be disqualified.

Winners of the Qualifying and the Grand Prize Final Races will share multi-million dollar purses. The purse for the Grand Prize Final will be significantly larger than the purse for the Qualifying Race. In both cases, the purse will be split 3:1 between the Mainstream and Alternative classes​
 
#10 · (Edited)
Cost: Vehicle cost at a production rate of 10,000 units per year must be within levels that the market is likely to bear

OK. Good. So right there the Tesla flat out fails. The market will never bear 10,000 units / year at $110,000. Never. Its a non starter.

BTW, for all those 'Who Killed the Electric Car' fanatics, that means the EV1 doesn't qualify either.

• Total (wells-to-wheels3) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions expressed as equivalent grams of CO2 per mile: no more than 200 g/mi
How do we measure this for an electric car? If its getting its electricity from solar / nuclear / wind / hydro its one thing. If its getting its juice from coal or natural gas, it probably won't qualify. None of them will.

I wonder what energy source they are assuming for this 'wells to wheels' measure.
 
#11 ·
True, I thought about that. 10 kilowatts in Oregon is going to produce a lot less C02 than 10 kilowatts in Pennsylvania where it's all coal base electricity. There's probably a national average pollution produced per kWh that they can use to determine if the vehicle passes the pollution criteria.

By the way, if anyone uses ethanol in the competition I'm just going to laugh because ethanol produces the same amount of C02 per kJ as gas and requires 1.3 gallons of fossil fuels to produce 1 gallon of ethanol and then only has 1/4th the energy density once it's created.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top