$10 million bounty for super-efficient cars

Alan Boyle Science editor • Profile • E-mail

A $10 million contest to develop super-efficient — and salable — automobiles is getting its official kickoff on Thursday, with Progressive Insurance providing the purse.

The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, modeled after earlier prizes for spaceflight and genetic research, is aimed at promoting the creation of cars that get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, while at the same time hitting targets for low greenhouse-gas emissions, safety and affordability.

More than 60 teams have announced their intention to compete, with cross-country stage races slated for 2009 and 2010. The spectacle could well hark back a century, to the first-ever transcontinental road race in 1909, said Peter Diamandis, chairman and chief executive officer of the X Prize Foundation.

"It's incredible that the Ford Model T got 25 miles per gallon, and many of the cars that we drive today get less," Diamandis told msnbc.com. "One hundred years later, the average car on the road should be 100 mpg equivalent or better. This competition is a global platform that will allow some of the world's best designers and engineers to demonstrate what kinds of cars can be manufactured today, and should be on the road today."

Some details yet to be determined
For more than a year, Diamandis and other X Prize executives have been working on the rules,  recruiting contestants and wooing sponsors. Many of the details still have to be worked out, including exactly where the races will be held. But prize organizers took advantage of this week's New York International Auto Show to announce that they finally had the money to go forward with the $10 million contest.

Progressive will offer the prize money as well as the cash for administering the competition, said Glenn Renwick, the insurance company's president and chief executive officer. He regarded the sponsorship as a marketing opportunity as well as an opportunity to do something "great for society."

"Our future is directly linked to the future of the automobile," Renwick said. "If we can provide a forum for some of the best engineers and scientists in the world to bring forward new ideas and give them this stage, I think that's tremendous. ... Maybe we all win."

Who’s on board ... and who’s not?
Among the teams intending to compete are Tesla Motors, which has already started production of a $98,000, two-seat, electric-powered sports car; ZAP Motors, which has been producing electric vehicles for years; and Aptera, which is on the verge of marketing a futuristic-looking, three-wheeled electric vehicle.

However, the major automakers are conspicuous by their absence from the list. That's because the final contest rules have not yet been published, Diamandis said. "The major auto manufacturers won't consider joining the competition until the rules are finalized," he said.

"We are still hopeful that the major manufacturers will compete, but as with the Ansari X Prize [for private spaceflight], it's OK if they don't," Diamandis said.

The $10 million Ansari X Prize was won in 2004 by the SpaceShipOne rocket plane, built by California-based Scaled Composites with an estimated $25 million in backing from software billionaire Paul Allen. Just before the prize was won, the SpaceShipOne team struck a $250 million deal with British billionaire Richard Branson to build a fleet of passenger spaceships. Then, last year, Scaled was acquired by Northrop Grumman, a major aerospace company.

"You might very well see the winner of the Automotive X Prize get snapped by one of the major manufacturers," Diamandis said.

Diamandis' organization administers several other prize challenges, including the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize for private moon exploration, the $10 million Archon Genomics X Prize for low-cost genome sequencing, and the $2 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

The Automotive X Prize contest will award prizes in two classes: one for "mainstream" vehicles, equipped with four wheels and capable of carrying at least four passengers; and another for "alternative" vehicles that have at least three wheels and room for two passengers.

The prize money would be divvied up to give three-quarters to the mainstream winner, and the remaining quarter to the alternative-class winner. That means the $10 million would be split into $7.5 million and $2.5 million prizes. However, the X Prize organizers are still trying to get additional sponsors to beef up the purse.

MORE FROM INNOVATION

Innovation Section Front

Sticky glue out-geckos the geckos Plastic film could make house lights obsolete Robot suit for rent in Japan to help people walk Lying about your age? A computer can tell Power cell wins $1M Pentagon prize Scientists develop solar cells with a twist Cleaner way to drink from the seas? Cows may hold secret for efficient ethanol 'Gizmo House' residents helped by technology Cranberry farms go high-tech to meet demand Innovation Section Front   Add Innovation headlines to your news reader: