New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg at the official start of the Auto X Prize.

Once all of the designers and teams get their ducks in a row and prep their vehicles for the cross-country portion of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize in 2009 and 2010, they're going to need places to go. For now, all we know is that the route will start in New York City in September 2009 and end in, well, somewhere in California I'm guessing. The X Prize organizers announced yesterday that "interest is high" in hosting some of the events in between the coasts, and listed 14 cities that have said they'd like to host a stage race: Albuquerque, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Denver, Indianapolis, New York, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and St. Louis.

The stage races will take place over (likely) ten stops and each "will feature a driving competition over city, suburban and rural roads between 30 and 200 miles in length." The races will show that the 100 mpge cars can achieve their numbers under real-world conditions.

Another new tidbit: there are now 94 teams that want to participate in the competition. Seems likely that we'll have over 100 by the time the application deadline hits at the end of the summer.

[Source: X PRIZE Foundation]

John McCain's (R) call for a $300 million prize for better automotive battery is still making waves. The latest to raise a voice are the people who are already offering some prize money for cleaner cars: the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE. Of course, the AXP is a much smaller prize purse ($10m) and is for an entire car and production plans. Don Foley, the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE's executive director, has issued the following statement (read the entire release after the break):

We commend Senator McCain for recognizing that great innovations can arise from the spirit of competition. But creating a new battery is only part of a broader challenge to solve our country's energy crisis and dependence on foreign oil. We must also look seriously at developing new vehicles, especially those that are production capable. There's no single path to energy independence; we need to explore many different technologies, fuels and vehicles before the American public can determine the most practical, environmentally-friendly and energy conscious solution for the future. We commend all public and private sector efforts to bring attention to these issues, including those by our title sponsor Progressive, and we look forward to being a part of the solution.

So, it's not really a put down - the AXP wouldn't dare - but it does bolster the general criticisms that have been issued in response to McCain's idea that it just isn't well thought out. Democrats Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, for example, have both criticized McCain's proposal.

[Source: X PRIZE Foundation]

A month ago, Tata Motors announced they would be entering two vehicles in the Automotive X Prize. The company's involvement with the 100 mpge challenge has now deepened as Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Sons (which owns Tata Motors, the maker of the Tata Nano, among other companies) has become a member of the X Prize Foundation's Board of Trustees. The President of BT Americas, Michael Boustridge, also joined the Board. The Board and the X Prize Foundation are in charge of more than just the Progressive Automotive X Prize, as the X Prize's "Revolution through Competition" model is also trying to find new ways to get back to the moon among other endeavors. Bios of both new Board members are available after the break.

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Based on an Audi R8 chassis and using a few currently-available components (like the air conditioner from an Audi A3), the new Electric RaceAbout (ERA) from Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia is getting ready to take part in the Progressive Automotive X Prize. The ERA is a lightweight (1,250 kg/2,750 lbs target weight) AWD electric vehicle that is expected to have a range of over 300 km (186 miles) and a top speed of over 200 kmh (124 mph). The goal is to make this vehicle reach that all-important 100+ mpge level with li-ion battery packs that will weigh somewhere between 350 and 570 kg (that's between 770 and 1,250 pounds. As a comparison, this is much heavier than the Chevy Volt's 350-400 pound packs). The carbon fiber body is moved by four electric in-wheel motors.

The ERA will be coming sometime next summer. The Institute of Design, Lahti Polytechnic and the Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia are working together on this vehicle. No estimated price is available for the Electric RaceAbout, but the newly unveiled website says it will be "Affordable (in sport vehicle range)." That would be nice, wouldn't it?


[Source: Electric RaceAbout, thanks to Janne M. for the tip!]

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We met Jory Squibb way back in late 2006 over at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo. How can you miss a guy driving a tiny, 100+mpg bubble car called the Moonbeam? Jory, from Maine, is now back on the ABG radar with his presence at the New York Auto Show. He didn't have a car with him this time, but he did have the idea for a competition vehicle for the Automotive X Prize with him. His new tadpole-style vehicle (that is, two wheels in front, one in back) is called Dirigo, which is the Maine state motto and means "I lead" of "I direct." The Dirigo's powertrain is based on a 950cc Daihatsu turbodiesel engine that sits in the back and drives the front two wheels. Jory told us the Moonbeam taught him that you really need at least half of your wheels providing power (the Moonbeam was also tadpole style, but only driven by the single rear wheel). Jory's team for the Dirigo, which is now a year old, is made up of about four regular members, some of whom are boat builders and are taking the Dirigo in a wooden direction. Learn more by listening to Jory yourself:



UPDATE: Jory sent in a few thoughts on the Auto X Prize at the New York Auto Show. We've pasted his essay after the jump.

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When we saw the distinctive shape of the VentureOne under wraps before the start of the Progressive Automotive X Prize announcement, we were pretty psyched. While the appearance of this vehicle on stage does revive our hope that we'll be able to drive one of these high-mpg hybrids one day, the bad news is that this is just a full-scale model. While it looks good, it's not going to get anyone anywhere. Yet.

Venture Vehicles' founder and CEO, Howard Levine, was happy to be back on the AutoblogGreen radar and gave us the rundown on where his company goes from here and how the VentureOne - which is a codename for the vehicle, not the final moniker - will move into production. He explained that the lack of media attention hasn't meant they haven't been working, just that they have been focusing on the vehicle, not on building hype. One of the big decisions the company has made is to offer only a hybrid version at launch, the pure electric option will have to wait until battery prices come down. Want more info? Listen to Levine yourself by clicking play.

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If the person being interviewed in the picture above looks a little bit young, well, that's because he is. He's a student at the West Philadelphia High School Academy for Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, which is fielding the youngest team of entrants in the Progressive Automotive X Prize.

I had a chance to speak with the teacher in charge of the program, Simon Hauger, who talked about the three (or four, depending on how you count) green vehicles the team has worked on over the past nine years. From an early converted Jeep(s) to the Hybrid Attack you see in the photo gallery, the team knows a few things about greening up a ride. The team took a K1 Attack and modified it to biofueled hybrid that won the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association's Tour de Sol twice. Can high school students win the Auto X Prize? They certainly have the passion, as Hauger describes. For the X Prize, the team is working on another vehicle, this one a plug-in diesel hybrid. The team says the car will exceed the 100 mpge requirement "without sacrificing style, safety or affordability." That's the dream, right?

In the general hub-bub before the Automotive X-Prize kick-off event yesterday, we cornered Progressive Insurance's President and CEO Glenn Renwick for a few brief moments to get his thoughts on the prize. I mean, it's his company that is putting up the ten million dollars in prize money, so you can bet he's thought long and hard about paying someone that much for a freakin' car. While insurers are not usually known for being happy about seeing money go out the door, Renwick said he hopes the company does indeed fork over the money at the end of the race. Renwick said (rightly, IMHO) that he considers the sponsorship to be simply another way of advertising, and as such is coming out of the company's general advertising budget. You might now see fewer Progressive ads on TV, but you'll be seeing the name much more here on ABG. Fair trade? That's not for me to decide.

Look at it from another angle: if we don't figure out a way to move to highly-efficient personal vehicles (and higher gas prices continue climbing as a reflection of dwindling supplies), what would Progressive have to insure? This might be the best $10m they ever spend. Give Renwick a listen using the flash widget below.

Before this release gets too much older (traveling sure eats int blogging time, I'll tell you that), let's confirm what was announced today at the New York Auto Show about the Progressive Automotive X Prize. The full statement can be found after the jump, but here's a bulleted list of highlights:

• NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg said some really nice thing about the prize, and his city will kick off the first stage of the competition in September 2009 (patience, everyone).
  
• The prize is indeed $10m and is being put up by the Progressive insurance company. Winners will split the money 3:1, with the mainstream category winners getting $7.5 million and the alternative class winner walking away with $2.5 million.
  
• Over 60 teams have signed a "letter of intent" to participate in the contest. The full list is included in the release, but the name that surprised me the most was Goodwin-Young "Linc Volt." That's right, everyone's competing against Neil Young. Is it even fair? That guy rocks, but sadly wasn't in New York today.
  
• Applications for official participants will be accepted starting in two months time, and will be accepted for two or three months. Get your forms filled out ASAP, is how I read that. This things on the go.
  
• We're still waiting for things like the final rules document and a list of host cities for the cross-country race.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a lot of interviews, video and audio from the event. There was a lot of excitement about this award, and I think we captured the vibe. Let us know when it goes up. More after the jump.

While wandering around near the Automotive X-Prize booth, look what we stumbled onto: MDI's air car. The green plastic-y version that had just been uncovered - I think for a video team's camera - bears only slight resemblance to the rendering that appeared on the X-Prize screen. It looks even less like the previous version of the Air Car that we've seen before. We'll be sitting down with the people behind the Air Car later today to figure out just what it is we're looking at here.


And look at the cars still snug under the covers. Well, kind of snug. I'm pretty sure I see a CarverOne, don't I? We'll know more in a bit.

We'll have full coverage from New York of the Automotive X Prize's new details in a few hours, but CNN has just announced that the total prize purse will be ten million dollars. That's the same as what was given for winning the Ansari X Prize, which sent private citizens into space. The title sponsor for the green car event will be Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., according to the AP. The ten million dollars will be split between the winners of the different Auto X Prize categories, one each for mainstream and alternative cars. The "mainstream cars" look normal (four wheels, at least) need to have room for at least four people with standard vehicle features (climate control, audio system and at least 10 cubic feet of cargo space) while hitting 60 mph in under 12 seconds. The last two requirements will be the toughest: 100 mph top speed with a 200 mile range. We'll have more later on what I now assume will be called the Progressive X Prize.

[Source: CNN, AP]

We're waiting for the Automotive X Prize's big announcement next week, but the U.S. Senate has decided that now is as good a time as any to heap some bipartisan praise on the X Prize foundation for inspiring "a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles that could help break the addiction of the United States to oil and stem the effects of climate change." The Senate passed S. Res. 486 (PDF) today with strong support form Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). Other Senators named by the foundation as leaders in getting the resolution passed were Michigan's Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow (both Democrats) and Pete Domenici (R-NM). The House passed a similar resolution in early February. You can read statements from some of the legislators after the jump as we think about what these promised amazing cars will be like when they finally get on the road. Oh wait, the Auto X Prize hasn't even officially started yet. Guess patience is the answer, for now.

The Automotive X-Prize organizers are gearing up to officially kick off the competition early this year and people will get their first opportunity to meet some of the competitors next week at the Detroit Auto Show. Seven of the teams that have signed letters of intent to compete will be on hand at the X-Prize booth during the media and industry previews before the show opens to the public. Visionary Vehicles, Velozzi, Valentin Technologies, Titling Vehicles Australia, Alpha Core/Poulson Hybrid, Psycho-Active and Michigan Vision will all be there, as will we, starting Sunday at Cobo Hall. Visionary Vehicles is the latest project from Malcolm Bricklin. AutoblogGreen will be sitting down with Mr. Bricklin to discuss his project so stay tuned for that.

[Source: Automotive X-Prize]

This is a post for all of the American city officials we have who read AutoblogGreen (or readers who know someone in city government). The Automotive X Prize is looking for cities in America to host stages of the fuel-efficient vehicle race in 2009-2010. An official Request for Proposal (RFP) will be released at the Detroit Auto Show in the next few days.

What will your city get for hosting a stage? Publicity, mostly. The race will go through "ten U.S. cities while being broadcast to a global audience in 2009 and 2010, building consumer demand for vehicles in the competition and demonstrating many practical, clean and affordable vehicle options. This opportunity represents a visual, hands-on forum for Host Cities and individual administrations to drive public behavior toward reducing environmental impact."

If you want to be a part of the race but don't happen to work for an American city, don't worry. The organizers are
"seeking national, regional and local sponsors to underwrite the stage race competition," which means they'll be happy to take your money. Details after the jump.

Related:

• Update from the Automotive X Prize team
• AutoblogGreen exclusive Q&A with the Auto X Prize's Mark Goodstein

[Source: Auto X Prize]

While hyper-efficient automobiles are not the only thing that the X Prize Foundation is focused on, the Foundation's Automotive X Prize has garnered a fair share of posts here on AutoblogGreen. For the Foundation's broader mission (missions is perhaps the better word), the Board of Editors of Scientific American magazine named it to the sixth annual Scientific American 50, specifically the Policy Leader of the Year. According to an email sent out by the X Prize staff:

This award, which appears in the January 2008 Issue of Scientific American, honors 50 individuals, teams, companies and other organizations whose accomplishments in research, business or policymaking during 2006-2007 demonstrate outstanding technological leadership.

The 100-mpg Automotive X Prize gets but a line in SciAm's write-up about the Foundation's place in the 50, but you can keep an eye on AutoblogGreen for details as the contest moves along. For a look at a bit of Automotive X Prize history, click on the banner below:



[Source: X Prize Foundation]