Automotive X-prize won

[El_Machinae]

Goodness, I love the X-prize system. It's delivered low-level space access, it's nearly delivered cheap genomic sequencing, and now there've been multiple winners of the Automotive X-Prize. The goal was a viable commercial car that could get 100 mpg, and the $10 million prize has just been won.

(feel free to look up the story on the news service of your choice)

The competition, which began in 2007 with 136 vehicles from 111 teams, required that the vehicles achieve 100 miles per gallon or the energy equivalent. While two of winning vehicles reached that goal with electric power plants, the top winner did it with an internal combustion engine.
...
The goal of the Automotive X Prize is to spark the development of super-efficient cars that can be manufactured in large volume. “We wanted to incentivize the dreamers and the doers out there to take on an audacious act,” said Peter Diamandis, X Prize Foundation chairman and chief executive. “This was not an easy competition by any means.”
...
he competition was broken up into two classes: Mainstream, which was for four-seat vehicles, and Alternative, which had two divisions: two-seats side-by-side and two seats in a tandem, fighter-jet configuration.
...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/automobiles/16WINNERS.html?_r=1

The cars had to have heating, air-conditioning, a stereo, and to pass safety-inspection standards.

Here's the link to future X-prizes, which I think people should be aware of. Sponsorship in these types of contests probably really help. Plus, you might know someone who actually has a couple of ideas in these areas.

The goal of these prizes is to have a target that's "audacious but achievable".

For people with spare listening time, here's a talk by Diamandes that I greatly, greatly recommend on his philosophy of what the X-Prize is trying to do, and its previous successes. I used iTunes to listen to it.

 

[uppi]

I don't get the point of this challenge. Sure an engineering challenge is always fun, but this is all just about applying existing technology. Without anything of this going into production there is no point to this.

VW mass produced and sold a car that got 80 mpg in 1999 (Wasn't much of a success then) and they had a concept car that got 230 mpg in 2002:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_1-litre_car

So there is really nothing new here, or am I missing something?

 

[El_Machinae]

Well, you're not missing much. It seems that it's been quite possible with existing technology to build a 100 mpg car. It's just that nearly no one has done it. Now, there're more concepts for such a vehicle built, and all of those entrepreneurs are looking for backers. The winner now has some name recognition, and a line on the resume. And the public can start agitating for such vehicles, because they're now easily proven to be viable.

This competition is proof that the car design works and has been tested. It's a four-seater, even.
I think clicking on the news link lets the NYT know that we appreciate such reporting, too

edit: Plus, if the cars already existed, why didn't a mainstream manufacturer/design win the contest?

 

[GoodGame]

There's also the issue of safety engineering, which it seems the contest ignored. Would any of the cars be survivable under current road conditions?