After being a resident of Lynchburg, Virginia where this vehicle was built I'm really excited about Edison 2 winning the contest. We have watched so many factories and other manufacturing jobs disappear over the years that it's heartening to see something this special come from here and have such potential to improve our world.
Edison 2's lightweight approach really is the key to getting better mileage with any vehicle. So much has become standard or mandated equipment just in the time that I've been around that it's no wonder that the Big 3 struggle to improve their average mileage.
Does anyone remember the Honda Civic of the 70's? 40+ mpg
the Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift of the 90's? 40+ mpg
Both used ordinary gasoline engines but concentrated on lightweight construction to achieve their mileage goals.
The Edison 2 really is possible NOW and would be suitable as a platform for not just gasoline engines but any alternative fuel or even electric so long as the lightweight construction method was adhered to.
The prize was established three years ago by the X Prize Foundation to create a car that goes at least 100 miles per gallon or energy equivalent. (This is a new standard created by X Prize and Consumer Reports that will let people compare electric and non-electric cars).
The winning cars also need to be able to travel 200 miles on a single tank or charge, be produced commercially and pass a battery of other tests, including speed trials, safety tests and a session in a dynamometer chamber (which measures engine power) at Argonne National Laboratory. The prizes are funded by Progressive Insurance, which will also insure the cars.
A live broadcast of the awards ceremony, which begins at 10:30 A.M. Eastern time in Washington, D.C., is here.
The winner of the $5 million top prize, according to the New York Times, is Edison2:
Sitting on a 100-inch wheelbase, the car has a chassis of welded steel tubing and a body that resembles a small helicopter, but the entire vehicle weighs just 830 pounds. A rear-mounted, single-cylinder motorcycle engine burns a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline to make about 40 horsepower.
Winners of the two $2.5 million prizes were Wave II, a battery-electric car, and the E-Tracer, a battery-electric motorcycle-like vehicle. All of the teams’ entries are here. Although 111 teams entered the contest with 136 vehicles, only seven teams and nine vehicles were left by today.
Tonight at 9 P.M. Eastern time, National Geographic will air a program with highlights of the competition.
Below is an interview with X Prize CEO Peter Diamandis from the Rachel Maddow Show on what the X Prize is trying to accomplish. He points that Henry Ford’s original Model T got 25 miles per gallon — more than the many cars get today — because it wasn’t loaded down with features.
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