No Radio, but It Gets 100 Miles a Gallon

Three teams of engineers won shares of a $10 million prize Thursday in a contest to design a vehicle capable of traveling 100 miles on the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline

Among the exotic-looking vehicles that shared the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize was the Very Light Car, winner in the "mainstream" class. The four-passenger vehicle, developed by the Edison2 team, achieved the equivalent of 102 miles per gallon. It weighs just 830 pounds and burns E-85 ethanol in a one-cylinder, 40-horsepower engine.
The goal of the contest, launched in January 2008, was to "revolutionize the auto industry." But mainstream auto makers have mostly shunned the competition and have since overshadowed it by accelerating plans to roll out ultra-efficient cars to sell to consumers.
The Edison2 team, which garnered a $5 million prize, was put together by Charlottesville, Va., real-estate developer Oliver Kuttner and included several veterans of the auto-racing industry.

The two other winning teams, which were awarded $2.5 million each at the ceremony in Washington, D.C., fielded even more exotic vehicles in what contest organizers called alternative classes.
Li-Ion Motors Corp.'s Wave II, a battery-electric car designed to seat two people side by side, achieved the equivalent of 187 mpg. Li-Ion said the car can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 12 seconds and hit a top speed of 80 mph.
The Wave II has an aggressive, aerodynamic look, the result of hours of testing in wind tunnels aimed at reducing friction drag. Las Vegas-based Li-Ion converts conventional vehicles to electric drive and makes the Wave II and another car, the Inizio,to order.
The other prize winner was the E-Tracer, a two-wheel electric vehicle developed by a Swiss team. The vehicle looks like a large motorcycle with a wraparound body. The passenger sits behind the driver.
The battery-powered E-Tracer has a small set of training wheels that fold out to stabilize the vehicle. Contest judges said it could get the gasoline equivalent of 205 mpg.

Prize-Winning Cars

Very Light Car
MPG: 102
Fuel: Ethanol
Top Speed: 100 mph
Developed by Edison2 of Lynchburg, Va.
Wave II
MPG: 187
Fuel: Battery
Top Speed: 80 mph
Developed by Li-Ion Motors Corp., Las Vegas
E-Tracer
MPG: 205
Fuel: Battery
Top Speed: 120 mph
Developed by X-Tracer Team, Winterthur, Switzerland

X-Prize winners will also be eligible for financial support from the Department of Energy to develop their designs for sale to consumers.
The competition represents an approach to developing and promoting super-high-mileage cars that big auto makers are leaving behind. Nissan Motors Co., General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and other auto makers are trying to position their planned electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles less as exotic science projects and more as easily approachable appliances.
The Nissan Leaf, for example, is an electric vehicle due to launch later this year that looks like a conventional five-door hatchback—except for unusually bulbous front headlights designed to minimize wind noise, which is more noticeable because the car's electric motors are so quiet.
Also due on the U.S. market later this year is GM's plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt. Toyota and Ford Motor Co. have plans to launch mass-market electric vehicles in 2011 and beyond.