Auto X Prize to reward 100-mpg car

At the 2007 New York Auto Show, the organizers of the X Prize foundation announced a new $10 million prize for creating a car that gets 100 mpg; can be mass produced; and could be sold for a reasonable price. This declaration was one of the least noticed stories to emerge from the show, but it could have the biggest impact.

The draft of the contest rules were posted on the X Prize Web site last week before the event. There was no press conference at the auto show, but X Prize representatives were talking to automakers and industry bigwigs about this proverbial race to save the planet.

The X Prize was conceived to spur innovation. It was inspired by the Orteig prize, which Charles Lindbergh won by flying across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. The first X Prize, the Ansari X Prize, was for a private spacecraft that could launch into sub-orbital space twice in two weeks. It was won by Californian aviator and inventor Burt Rutan in 2004.

Along with building a car that can go 100 miles on a gallon of gas, teams competing for the Auto X Prize must submit a business plan for producing and selling 10,000 cars.

The competition will start in mid-2008 with a panel of judges studying the vehicle designs to ensure they're ready for production and reviewing the business plans to confirm they're feasible, including selling the car for a "reasonable" cost. Auto X Prize Executive Director Mark Goodstein says any cost over $75,000 or $80,000 would probably not be considered reasonable, and any car that cost that much would be expected to be loaded with luxury features like other cars in that price range. Cars must meet all applicable safety and emission regulations. To confirm safety levels, teams will have to submit detailed, computerized vehicle designs so judges can run computerized crash simulations. Emissions will be measured according to current federal Tier II bin 5 standards.

Cars that clear those hurdles will be entered in a qualifying race in early 2009, and those vehicles that finish the initial competition will face-off in the final race at the end of 2009. Both races will have a variety of stages timed on public roads and closed racetracks. In between the two major races will be a series of demonstration events, such as climbing hills and traversing deserts, to prove the cars are capable of performing those tasks.

During the final race, the cars must average 100 mpg, as well as meet strict limits on carbon dioxide and the most stringent current limits on smog emissions. They can run on any fuel including electricity, but X Prize organizers expect that most will run on gasoline, diesel, electricity, natural gas, bio-diesel, and E85 or some combination thereof. Other fuels such as hydrogen "will require a clear business case that a vehicle using a non-mainstream fuel can succeed in the marketplace within a few years," according to the preliminary rules. Fuel economy will be measured on a gallon-of-gas equivalency basis. The first rule-abiding car to cross the finish line in the final race will take home the big prize money.

Goodstein says he is convinced the technology to mass produce and market a 100-mpg car "is viable today." But he says automakers haven't built one because they are "boxed in."  Goodstein says, "Failure is frowned upon, and they can't innovate because they're trying to make money. It's not their fault; it's a very competitive industry. They're not going to solve the world's problems, because that's not their jobs."

But innovation is happening, he says. And the automotive X Prize aims to publicize that innovation and spur investment in it. Organizers hope that awareness created by the race events will lead to automakers or other investors buying and even producing the best designs from the competition.

The rules are still being finalized, but already organizations are showing strong interest in the competition. Goodstein hopes to see entries from major automakers, as well.

Discuss the Auto X Prize in the Consumer Reports forum.

--Eric Evarts