The first week of the X Prize finals is complete and the results are in.

Of the 12 teams that came to the finals 4 have been eliminated or have withdrawn (Amp, Tango, Tata and Spira). Very Light Cars now comprise almost a third of the entire field. It is now us against the X Tracers in the Alternative Tandem class, and us against ourselves in the Mainstream class.

Our cars did well in very challenging circumstances. Our #95 tandem car got a combined 110.8 MPGe (including almost 130 in the highway cycle), but the mainstream cars ran later each day, in windy and very hot conditions. The #98 achieved 101.3 MPGe and the #97, 95.6 MPGe.

The #97 car had to deal with a traffic situation during the test that resulted in using turbo boost to stay within lap time requirements: frustrating, given that this car already made 101.4 MPGe in the Knockout stage, and is about 5 MPGe better now because of emissions mapping improvements. This car did meet the X Prize requirement of 90 MPGe; these efficiency results will be averaged with results to come in August at the Argonne National Lab on the dynamometer (ie, no wind or heat).

We also expect to pick up another 1 – 3 MPGe because we now know there is evaporation of E85 from the X Prize supplied fuel tank. This problem was discovered by PIAXP staff, for which we are grateful. We willingly installed this tank for transparency but have had trouble due to its required location in the engine compartment. 

Monday the 26^th are the dynamic safety events (lane change, acceleration and braking) and on Tuesday the combined performance and efficiency event. This combined event is the actual race. It requires cars to exceed 100 MPGe within a maximum and minimum speed range on a course with turns. The car in each class that completes this course in the shortest time is eligible to be an X Prize winner.

The end of the week will be coast-down testing, to collect data necessary for the dyno tests at Argonne. Then the cars will be taken by the X Prize to the Argonne Labs in Chicago for emissions and efficiency testing in August.

Winners will be announced in September.

The Finals stage of the Automotive X Prize is underway. Twelve teams from six countries unloaded their trailers and moved into garages Sunday and began technical inspections yesterday morning. Of the 136 cars that entered the 3 categories of the X Prize a year ago only 15 remain.

The Alternative Side-By-Side class (100+ MPGe, 100 mile range, 2 passengers seated side-by-side, 0-60 in 18 seconds) finalists are Amp, (Cincinnati, OH), Aptera, (San Diego, CA), Li-ion Motors (Mooresville, North Carolina), RaceAbout Association, (Finland), Tata Motors (Coventry, UK) TW4XP (Germany), Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA) and ZAP (Santa Rosa, CA). WWU uses a hybrid drive, and the other Side-By-Sides are battery electrics.

The Tandem class – same requirements as Side-By-Side except for seating position – consists of Tango (Spokane, WA), Spira (Carrollton, IL/Thailand), X-Tracer (Switzerland), and our # 95 Very Light Car. X-Tracer has two entries, very similar 2-wheelers. The Tango and the X-Tracers are electric, while our Very Light Car and the Spira are internal combustion.

We have the Mainstream class to ourselves. Our E85 fueled #97 and #98 cars were the only entrants to survive the Knockout round.  Mainstream requires a 200-mile range and a 15-second 0 – 60: stiff requirements, especially for electrics and hybrids, helping explain our lack of finals competition. The Mainstream class comes with a $5 million prize, the Alternative classes $2.5 million each.

Not to say we have the Mainstream class wrapped up: far from it. Wednesday through Friday begins a series of efficiency events, mimicking the EPA mileage cycles and requiring a combined 100 MPGe. Dynamic safety events, such as lane-change and braking, are on Monday, with the combined performance and efficiency event on Tuesday.

This combined event is the actual race. It requires cars to exceed 100 MPGe on a course with a variety of turns, within a maximum and minimum speed range. The car that completes this course in the shortest time will be an X Prize winner (and it is possible all requirements will not be met and a category will not have a winner). The top cars in each category will spend the end of next week undergoing coast-down testing, a requirement for dynamometer testing of emissions and mileage at Argonne National Laboratory in August. Argonne also puts the cars through another stiff challenge, especially for electrics: a 40-minute hill climb on the dynamometer. The dyno efficiency results are averaged with the MIS track results, and if the combination is greater than 100 MPGe, if the emissions are met, and if the Argonne hill is successfully climbed, a champion will be announced.

Yesterday all three of our cars passed technical inspection. Not all cars at the finals have done so yet and some may face an early elimination. Today we are readying all three cars for the efficiency tests; Wednesday morning the urban cycle testing begins at 8:30 for the #95 car.

The finals are a complicated, lengthy series of events. It can be followed, much of it  real-time, at the Progressive Automotive X Prize website. Stay tuned.



Our #97 mainstream 4-seat Very Light Car achieved 101.4 MPGe in the combined EPA cycle at the X Prize Knockout.

An interesting side note to this accomplishment is that the engine we are using is a 250 cc, one-cylinder internal combustion engine from a Yamaha WR 250R.  This small motorcycle weighs 300 lbs and gets 70 MPG, and does not have to meet tough emissions standards.

Our Very Light Car weighs over 700 lbs and gets over 100 MPGe. – while exceeding the stringent 2014 emissions standards, including cold start. How does this leap in mileage occur? Mainly two ways: the extreme platform efficiency of the Very Light Car, and improvements made to the engine. The Very Light Car adds a turbocharger, increases compression, uses extensive exhaust gas recirculation and reengineered internal parts and runs on E85. A similarly efficient gasoline engine we considered doable but would have taken longer, especially the emissions system.

The Very Light Car is not the only entry remaining in the X Prize that can be compared to an existing car’s mileage. Tata’s Indica Vista EV X (a production 4-passenger car, entered in the Alternative 2-passenger Side-by-Side class, presumably to avoid the mainstream 200-mile range requirement) gets 33 – 40 MPGe as a production car, but in the X Prize achieved much more: a combined 134.3 MPGe while running as an electric vehicle.

What explains the much greater efficiency of the X Prize Tata?  No doubt it partly reflects the efficiency of the electric motor, properly applied. But this achievement is also a function of the underlying method of measuring energy use in an electric vehicle.

Energy use in an internal combustion engine is straightforward: measure an amount of gas, drive, and measure again. For the X Prize the cars have standardized gas tanks that are removed and weighed.

Electricity use is similarly measured at the X Prize. Batteries are refilled at charging stations and metered for energy consumption: a “plug-to-wheels” formula, that accounts for losses in the charger, in the battery, and energy used by the engine to move the car. Certainly a more accurate representation than measuring the energy use motor-to-wheels, which leads to results all over the map, including some very high mileage numbers.

A problem is that electricity is only an energy carrier and thermal conversion of energy is not considered in this calculation.  In the real world for every BTU put into the American power grid for the production of electricity only 52% makes it to the plug.  This 48% loss (from energy conversion and distribution) is not accounted for in the plug-to-wheel calculation.

 This plug-to-wheel calculation is important as there are many good reasons to shift toward an electric transportation future, such as new options, existing capacity, energy independence and remote emissions. However, a more accurate number for the Tata efficiency would be 40 mpg on gasoline and (134MPGe x .52) 70 mpg as an electric.

This is a more efficient vehicle as an electric but the efficiency comes with costs: battery expense, range restriction and issues like grid capacity and resource allocation. Certainly a path worth pursuing, especially as the electric grid moves away from coal towards renewable sources of energy.

Very complicated issues – what about the efficiency of distributing gasoline or ethanol? - and the X Prize is to be commended for adopting a clear, understandable standard in MPGe.   

But the fact remains: our Very Light Car – the most efficient automotive platform ever built – has crossed the 100 MPGe threshold.



The knockout stage accomplished its goal and pared the X Prize field: the competition is now down from 21 teams and 26 vehicles to 12 teams and 15 vehicles. There are 8 vehicles left in the Alternative Side-by-Side class, 5 in the Alternative Tandem class and two in the Mainstream class.

The Alternative classes each come with a $2.5 M prize, and are less stringent than the Mainstream class. They require only a 100 mile range and 2 passengers; allow a slower 0 – 60 time, motorcycle tires and any number of wheels; and do not require features such as heat, air conditioning and audio. Edison2 has one car left in the Tandem class. The Mainstream class – $5 M prize, 4 wheels, 4 passengers, 200 mile range – is down to 2 cars: both are Edison2 Very Light Cars.

Our 3 remaining cars achieved combined MPGe (before penalties) of 101.4, 97.0 and 80.3: we feel we are well-positioned to meet the mileage and performance challenges of the finals.

The X Prize understands the importance of good handling to a safe and efficient car, and our cars aced the competition’s dynamic safety tests.

Edison2 had the top speed in the accident avoiding maneuver test (lane change). We had the shortest stopping distance in the 60 – 0 braking test, at 128 feet: 170 feet was the requirement.

We also bested the field in the lateral acceleration (skid pad) test, with our cars having the top three scores. For this test cars see how fast they can run in a 300’ diameter circle; our #97 mainstream car took 14.9 seconds to complete the circle, and achieved a 1.18g (g=acceleration due to gravity) peak reading, with 0.7g required. Compared with a car doing the minimum 0.7, our #97 would be 1.3 seconds and 75 feet ahead.

This is important: safety is achieved not just by performing well in a crash, but also by avoiding accidents altogether. The Very Light Cars are designed to meet both of these components of vehicle safety.

One of the cool things about these results is that Edison2's cars have the narrowest tires in the mainstream class. Unlike some of our competitors, we have not had to change them due to wear. Why are we able to combine grip, small size and low wear? Because the cars are Very Light.

Finals start July 19.



A little over a year ago 111 teams from 15 countries, with a total of 136 vehicles, entered the Automotive X Prize. Close to two-thirds of the entries were in the mainstream class: 4-wheel, 4-person cars with a range of 200 miles on a single tank or charge.

Entering the 2^nd week of the knockout, only three mainstream cars remain: two Edison2 Very Light Cars and the electric Illuminati Seven car. More entries remain in the alternative classes (including our tandem Very Light Car), where entrants need to carry only 2 passengers, go 100 miles, and can have any number of wheels.

What does this mean?

Certainly it means that the X Prize has set the bar appropriately high. Doubling the mileage of existing high-economy cars is a very difficult task; if it were easy it would already have been done.

Second, the fact that only one car reliant on batteries remains in the mainstream class reinforces just how difficult range can be for electric drives. Our analysis of efficiency showed that the energy gained from regenerative braking simply was not worth the cost in added battery weight. One 6 lb gallon of gasoline contains the energy of 500 lbs of batteries; at least 1000 lbs of batteries would be needed if our 750 lb VLC were electric. That is a lot of weight to push around for 200 miles.

Third, it is no coincidence that both Illuminati and Edison2 have build ground-up cars. Achieving breakthrough efficiency by modifying an existing car is not going to happen; rather, it requires a new way of thinking about cars.

Edison2 has done this. We have met the 100 MPGe efficiency mark this week, and have done it by taking a fresh look at what it takes to make a car practical, safe, affordable, and efficient. The VLC is light because every part has been redesigned to be strong and light. It is safe because of design innovations from racing. It is affordable because it is low-mass, simple and uses conventional materials. And it is efficient because it is an unprecedented combination of low weight and superior aerodynamics.

Knockout continues this week with dynamic safety and emissions testing. Then the competition concludes the last 2 weeks of July, where cars need to meet the full requirements, rather than the 2/3 needed at Knockout. Stay tuned.