The first running prototype of the German Loremo has achieved its road-worthiness certificate and has hit the road in its home country. Loremo is working on three different powertrains - gas, diesel and electric - and has entered the diesel version in the Automotive X-Prize. That competition is still shaping up, so Loremo's first car to hit the road is the battery-powered variant. The first prototype went for a ride around town recently and the video is now available. You can check it out after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

The organizers of the Automotive X-Prize have released the full list registered entrants for the upcoming super-mileage competition. By the time registrations closed a total of 111 teams had completed the process and are now eligible to compete. Those teams have entered a total of 136 vehicles with 80 of those being in the mainstream class and the remainder being in the alternative class. Eleven different countries are represented along with 14 fuel sources.

Fuel sources include the usual suspects such as pure battery electric (32), gas and diesel electric hybrids (36) and straight gas, diesel and compressed natural gas vehicles. There are also solar/electric hybrids, hydrogen, compressed air and a hybrid human/gas/electric vehicle. As expected there are the oddballs such as urea and water powered vehicles.

Among the registered teams you'll find familiar names such as Aptera, Zap, Tesla and Velozzi as well as a plethora of unknowns. Click on the link for the full list.

[Source: Auto X Prize]

A small startup company in Loveland, Colorado is working on what it hopes will be the keys to the Automotive X-Prize. Lightning Hybrids is building a pair of vehicles, one with three wheels and the other with four, that use a biodiesel-fueled hydraulic hybrid powertrain. Not a lot of details are available right now, but from what can be gleaned on the website, it appears to be a series hybrid system with a compact 90 hp two-stroke diesel engine paired with a hydraulic drive system. The site lists total power of 90 hp from the engine plus 150 hp from the hydraulics for a total of 240 hp. Depending on how the system is configured and how the creators are calculating the number, that may be inaccurate. If the diesel engine is driving a hydraulic pump, the total would not be additive since energy transformation is occurring.

The car itself also has some issues. Judging from the renderings, the designers have neglected to peruse Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for items such as headlight height, mirrors, or much else for that matter. The first prototype is currently under construction and the company hopes to have volume production going in 2010 with a three wheeled version selling for $39,000 and the four wheeler for 59,000. With items like a carbon fiber body, both of those will be a stretch.

[Source: Lightning Hybrids]

There's been plenty of interest in the Automotive X-Prize since it launched a couple of years back after the success of the original Ansari X-Prize. Dozens of start-ups and independent inventors have signed up to compete. Notable by their absence, though, are major automakers. This is likely due to the fact that they prefer to keep some level of control on the environment where they demonstrate new technologies and prototypes. There is also a more significant issue here, that being the basic premise of the competition. Not only are competitors required to build a vehicle that tops 100 mpge, but they also have to demonstrate that it can be built AND sold profitably in volumes of 10,000 units a year or more. Therein lies the rub. Established automakers understand the difficulty of that latter part far better than aspiring automakers. In recognition of that reality, X-Prize organizers have created a demonstration division that would let automakers enter vehicles that are either in production or coming soon. These vehicles wouldn't be eligible for the $10 million in prizes but it would give people a chance to see them in action. Given the limited budgets available right now and risks involved it seems unlikely that most companies would take up the offer, but we might yet be surprised.

[Source: Detroit News]

The crew at the Automotive X-Prize are still plugging away at making the $10 million prize competition a reality beginning in 2009. Here at the Los Angeles Auto Show, they have announced the first 22 officially registered teams for the competition. While most of the competitors fall into the category of independents, there are a few names you might recognize. Among those are Tata Motors, Aptera, MDI and Zap. Tata is entering a battery-powered version of the Nano and a hybrid version of the Indica. MDI will be trotting out its compressed air powered car and Zap will go for the gold with its 3-wheeled Alias. Of the entrants so far, eleven are in the mainstream class with the rest going for the alternative class. Teams can still enter until early 2009. After that the competitors will go on the road to a series of cities for the actual competition. The list of cities that will play host to the X-Prize will be announced in early 2009. Details after the jump.

[Source: Automotive x-Prize]

The Automotive X Prize has hired an industry veteran to manage team relations with competitors vying for the $10 million prize. Julie Zona will work to recruit new teams to the competition as well as coaching existing teams. Zona's background includes stints at Mayco Plastics, Chrysler and Saleen with experience in manufacturing, product planning and development. Using those skills, Zona will mentor competitors and help refine the rules for the competition. One of the keys that makes the X Prize different from previous mileage competitions is the viability component. Rather than just encourage teams to build the most efficient car, the competitors also have to demonstrate that the vehicles can be built and sold profitably in high volume. The press release is after the jump.

[Source: Automotive X Prize]

"I'm the greenest guy here."

That's the claim of Jerry Roane, of Roane Inventions Incorporated, who did note that the pure solar vehicles in the corner were potential competitors. "Here" is the first ever Austin Alt Car Expo, which started today in Austin Texas. We can debate whether Roane is right or not after the show, and we'll be bringing you full coverage over the next few days, but for now we'll start with a look at Roane's TriTrack vehicle idea. It's green, but it's also pretty much the craziest thing we've seen in a long, long while (note: like Chris Paine, we have a soft spot for the crazies).

The aerodynamic TriTrack vehicle, made from a aluminum honeycomb composite, seats four and is very lightweight. How light? Try 300 pounds. This incredible lightness means that lead acid batteries are actually preferred when the vehicle is off the guideway to give it some heft.

Guideway? That word certainly didn't mean much to me when Roane first used it, but we've got the full details after the jump.


[Source: Tritrack]

So, the other day I heard the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE's Cristin Lindsay say that about 50 of the 100+ teams that might be part of the contest were working on small, neighborhood vehicles. Specifically, Lindsay said the following: "With our competition, we are seeing many, many companies, 50 or more, who are working on small, neighborhood vehicles. Some of them are electric, some of them are not." Turns out that my assumption that this meant a lot of these were low-speed was not right. Bethann Buddenbaum, team development & relations manager of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE, wrote in to AutoblogGreen with the following:

I've been following your posts in the AltCar Expo and, as always, have found them to be very informative. Unfortunately, I think there was a bit of confusion about Cristin's statement on the Blue Bus panel.

What she said in the context of the conversation about urban transport and the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE was that about 1/2 of the competitors were working on commuter-type vehicles (i.e. smaller, more agile, able to decrease space usage on roads, etc.) For a quick reference, take a look at the LOI Contenders page on our website. I know with 120 teams, it's a lot to take in, but the visual will help.

What Cristin referenced was Contenders such as Commuter Cars (0-60 in 4 seconds), Visionary Vehicles, TTW Turin, Myers Motors, etc. These vehicles are smaller but they are not NEVs. Ultimately, speed wins in the competition, so low speed NEVs don't have a chance. That said, there are a handful of Contenders who do currently produce NEVs but are planning to create a vehicle with greater speed and more mainstream applications (i.e. ZAP!, T3, Miles Electric, et. al.).

We'll say what the newspapers say: "we regret the error" and thanks to Buddenbaum.

Following Friday's report of the agreement between GM and CARB on the status of the Volt, the Automotive X Prize took stock of the deal and issued its statement on the possibility of a 100-MPG rating for the highly-anticipated car. While praising what GM is doing with the Volt, the X Prize also recommended that the EPA, "consider adopting MPGe as a unit of measure that would more accurately reflect fuel consumption of alternative energy vehicles, and we welcome further discussions with them on this topic." We all know that one of the X Prize's big challenges is how to rate the many different fuel/energy types in the cars that will compete in the $10 million contest, and AXP executive director Don Foley said in a statement that, "Reliance on an MPG standard alone will soon be outdated and will not accurately reflect the need for higher fuel efficiency." More details after the break.

[Source: X Prize]

During a panel discussion on public transportation today at the Santa Monica AltCar Expo, Cristin Lindsay, senior director of the Automotive X Prize, gave us a bit more information about the teams that have signed up to participate in the race. You might remember that in late August, the X Prize foundation announced that there were over 100 teams that had signed up to compete for the $10 million prize. While we've gotten our fair share of interviews in with some of these teams, we certainly haven't looked at all of them and don't quite know what sorts of vehicles they're working on. Indeed, the foundation is still vetting the teams for the competition. Today, during the Big Blue Bus panel, Lindsay said that 50 of those teams are working on small neighborhood vehicles, including low-speed NEVs. So, if you're expecting a whole bunch of Tesla Roadsters in the race when it starts next year, might want to recheck your expectations.

You can hear Lindsay mention this X Prize update at around minute 29 in the audio included in this post.

UPDATE: well, maybe not.