Progressive Automotive X-Prize

It appears that the Finnish RaceAbout has won the Alternative side-by-side division, the only division left with competition. Aptera dropped out early due to technical problems, reportedly blown fuses. The Li-ion was a close second. These results are not official, but are based on comments of live stream watchers. Progressive will have to validate the results.

Now the Progressive site is saying the Li-ion came in first, by less than 1 second. There were some penalties assessed, and the two vehicle did not start at the same point (they were staged in rows at the start), which accounts for why the RaceAbout did not come in first despite finishing slightly ahead of the Li-ion. However, all finalists still have to pass the validation stage in order to win the $5 million or $2.5 million prizes. The race results are only a tie breaker if multiple vehicles pass all final validation tests.

Aptera seems to still be one of the final 9 entries.

The winners of the automotive X-Prize have been announced.

• The winner of the Mainstream Class, receiving a US$5m prize, was the Very Light Car from Edison2
  The winner of the Alternative Side-by-Side Class, receiving a US$2.5m prize, was the Wave II from Li-ion Motors
  The winner of the Alternative Tandem Class was the E-Tracer #79 from X-Tracer

Update: Changed URL to a better article on the topic

Out of the three, the E-Tracer looks like something that could sell NOW. The other two look like high school projects, but some of the principles used in their construction might carry over to a viable vehicle.

I'm impressed by the mpg achievements and hopefully some of this innovation will find its way into future vehicles. Personally, I don't care for the looks of any of those vehicles.

They should have a second automotive X-Prize and here's what I'd suggest. It costs $50K to enter. Every team that enters is provided the same model sedan, such as a Ford Focus. They can modify the drive train, suspension, wheels, tires, etc anyway they want, but the exterior and interior must be left stock. Whichever team achieves the highest mileage on the LA4 circuit (or whatever baseline the committee chooses) wins a $5M prize. I'll bet you a team could come up with a 70 mpg solution that a manufacture could use.

If the test was the LA4 (but how many continuous circuits?),
then the winner likely would not be capable of going up hills,
and probably not be capable of freeway speeds.

If weight and battery life and recharging are not an issue,
it might be an EV that got "9,999,999 miles" per gallon!