Jon Stewart A00112233
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Innovation: 100-mpg car contest under starters orders1 Format: 1 pt
Last night in California a list of 111 teams was announced – one of which
may hold the key to motoring's green future. They are the registered
entrants to the Progressive Auto X Prize, a contest that will award prizes
totalling $10 million for vehicles that can go 100 miles on the energy
equivalent to that in a gallon of fuel.
But you can be sure that the auto giants will be closely watching the
progress of entrants through the design judging and performance testing phases planned for this year,
as well as the race events scheduled to start in 2010. The contest offers a chance for smaller players to
shake up an industry long dominated by giant, established firms set in their ways.
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"This is a huge opportunity for niche players to make a big difference," Nick Carpenter, technical
director of small UK firm Delta Motorsport™, told New Scientist. Delta is finalising the design of a "low,
sporty four-seat coupe" that will use a unique, lightweight electric motor developed at Oxford
University, and is scheduled to begin track tests at the end of 2009.
"Whether we or any of the other small teams can become the next GM or Ford is another
matter," says Carpenter, "but the contest gives us the chance to bring fresh approaches
uncluttered by history." Some of those new ideas may be snapped up by bigger fish, he adds,
but even those that don't still have a chance to shine and influence the future of mass
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The prize looks set to provide both technological 100-mpg contest
entertainment, and practical advances. The Total Prize money $10 million
entrants are a varied mix ranging from innovative, 4 Wheeled 4 Passenger $7.5 million
to tried-and-tested and even downright wild ideas, 2 Passenger $2.5 million
but the contest rules ensure that the more serious Table-
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That's because although it is relatively easy to make a road vehicle travel 100 miles on the equivalent
of a gallon of fuel the prize comes with other criteria that provide more of a challenge.
The main $7.5-million purse for designs with four wheels, carrying four people requires they travel 200
miles on one load of their chosen fuel – at the target efficiency – and must accelerate from 0 to 60mph
in 12 seconds and reach speeds of 100 miles per hour.
The smaller $2.5-million prize for vehicles of any design carrying two or more people requires they go
100 miles on a top-up and reach at least 80 mph. Both categories restrict carbon emissions and require
attainable plans to manufacture 10,000 vehicles a year. Margins (.75”)/Alignment: 1 pt
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Adapted from: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16919-innovation-100mpg-car-contest-under-starters-
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12/13/2011 12:08:42 AM - Document1