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Michigan Trucks are becoming more fuel efficient in recent years, but they’re nowhere near the level of the contestants in the racing competition at Michigan International Speedway.
BROOKLYN, MICH. – Michigan trucks become behemoths when parked next to some of the teams competing in the Progressive Insurance Automotive XPrize.
The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize sets out to prove cars can be designed and produced to achieve 100 mpg. It’s a competition developed by the X PRIZE Foundation which seeks to inspire breakthroughs for humanity’s benefit.
Michigan trucks have made progress in more environmentally friendly technology, such as the hybrid version of the GMC Sierra, but this competition represents a something radically different from today’s Michigan trucks in style, performance and mileage achievements.
Teams from all over the world are competing for the grand prize of $10 million awarded to the first team to build a car that gets at least 100 MPGe in everyday driving situations, is safe, reasonably priced, and something customers will want to buy. Vehicles may either seat four passengers and have four wheels with a minimum 200 mile range in the mainstream class, or they those entering the alternative class must seat at least two passengers, achieve at least a minimum of 100 miles and there’s no minimum number of wheels.
The competition includes on-track tests and a required demonstration of fuel economy equivalent to at least 100 MPGe. Teams’ vehicles must also pass Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards requirements, and pass validation testing on the chassis dynamometer. Emissions standards must be no worse than US Environmental Protection Agency Tier II, Bin 5 over 120,000 miles. The Tier 2 Vehicle and Gasoline Sulfur program holds SUVs, pickups, vans and other large personal vehicles to the same national emission standards as cars. Also by combining vehicles and fuels as a system, cleaner cars will have the low-sulfur gasoline needed to run at their cleanest, and the emissions standards apply to all light vehicles, no matter what fuel type they use.1
The Knockout Qualifying Stage was held June 19-29, 2010, at the Michigan International Speedway. Beginning with 21 teams and 26 vehicles, the field is now down to 12 teams and 15 vehicles for the Finals Stage, which another set of on-track events in Michigan to choose the winner and award the $10 million prize. The Finals Stage has already started and will continue until July 27, 2010.
The teams still in it to win it are as follows:
amp – amp’d Sky (13)
Aptera – Aptera 2e (32)
Edison2 – Very Light Car (95), Very Light Car (97), and Very Light Car (98)
Li-ion Motors – Wave II (27)
RaceAbout Association – RaceAbout (10)
Spira – Spira4u (4)
Tango (Commuter Cars) – Tango T600 (49)
Tata Motors – Indica Vista EV X (9)
TW4XP – TW4XP (33)
X-Tracer Team Switzerland – E-Tracer 7002 (72), E-Tracer 7009 (79)
ZAP – Alias (8)
For more information about the X Prize, visit the Progressive Automotive X Prize and check back with MI Auto Times, http://www.miautotimes.com/ to find out who won the $10 million prize and which vehicle could be part of the solution in the quest for low emissions fuel efficiency.
[Source(s): Progressive Automotive X Prize, US EPA]
1United States Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov/tier2/
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