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I was listening to Science Friday and the next in a series of X prizes is now asking for folks to review their competition guidelines, the competition? Go 100 miles on a gallon of gas. This one seems pretty approachable for more people I think -- We've had posts about homemade 100 mpg+ cars.
The draft guidelines outline a challenging multi-year competition with a multi-million-dollar cash purse. Teams first are required to meet arduous standards proving they are capable of designing and building production-capable, super-efficient vehicles. The vehicles then will compete in a series of rigorous stage races that test the vehicles under real-world driving requirements and conditions. Vehicles will compete in two different categories - Mainstream (4+ passengers, 4+ wheels) and Alternative (2+ passengers, no requirement on number of wheels). Winning vehicles must exceed 100 miles per gallon or its equivalent, while also meeting rigorous emission requirements.Automotive X PRIZE - Link.
More:
Review and comment on draft competition guidelines... - Link.
Related:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0704050703apr06,0,1765741.story?coll=chi-business-hed
Already done!
A simple way to improve the Prius further (for the manufacturer) would be to get rid of the petrol engine and use a small diesel instead. Modern high pressure injection diesels get 50+ MPG under normal use, so combined with an electrical system - much like the vast majority of trains (diesel-electric) and many (road) coaches (which have a regenerative braking system) - a tuned diesel running at peak efficiency to power the electrical system on road, I'd expect to see an increase of 25% in motorway travel, and perhaps 200% in stop/start traffic jams.
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Is it just me, or didn't they say that the winner would be the first one to sell 10k of their cars to the public? It would add a sort of economic constraint to the contest, as well as force some polish on the final designs.
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