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Award
Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE
Awarded for
"design, build and race super-efficient vehicles that will achieve 100 MPGe (2.35liter/100kilometer) efficiency, produce less than 200grams/mile well-to-wheel CO2 equivalent emissions, and could be manufactured for the mass market"[1]
The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize (PIAXP or AXP) was a set of competitions, programs and events, from the X Prize Foundation, to "inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break America's addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change."[2]Progressive Insurance was the title sponsor of the prize, the centerpiece of which is the Competition Division, within which a 10-million-dollar purse was divided between the winners of three competitions.
The essence of each competition was to design, build and race super-efficient vehicles that achieved 100 MPGe (2.35liter/100kilometer) efficiency, produced less than 200grams/mile well-to-wheel CO2 equivalent emissions, and could be manufactured for the mass market.[1] Within the Competition Division, there are two vehicle classes: Mainstream and Alternative. The mainstream class had a prize of $5 million. The alternate class had two separate prizes of $2.5 million, one for side-by-side seating and one for tandem seating.[3]
The PIAXP has an educational program, funded by a $3.5 million grant from the United States Department of Energy, to engage students and the public in learning about advanced vehicle technologies, energy efficiency, climate change, alternative fuels, and the science, technology, engineering, and math behind efficient vehicle development.[4]
History
The X Prize Foundation began work on the development of a competition to spur innovation in the automotive industry in 2005 and on 6 March 2006 announced that Mark Goodstein would join the Foundation as an executive director of the new prize. [5] A little more than year later, on 12 April 2007, the Foundation formally announced the creation of the prize at the 2007 New York Auto Show and set the purse at $10 million for a car that could get 100mpg‑US (2.4L/100km; 120mpg‑imp) and be sold for a reasonable price.[6] In the subsequent year, the X Prize Foundation solidified sponsorship for the prize and on 20 March 2008 announced that Progressive Insurance would be the Title Sponsor of the Prize and fund the $10 million purse. From that point onward, it was known as the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize (PIAXP).[7]
At the 12 April 2007 announcement of the creation of the X Prize, the Foundation released draft Competition Guidelines, which were open for public comment from 2 April to 31 May 2007. The latest guidelines were published on 10 January 2009. The competition guidelines are the product of hundreds of volunteers of the AXP and world-class advisors.[3]
On 7 April 2009, the X Prize Foundation announced that 111 teams had registered by the February 2009 deadline.[8] By 20 October 2009, the design judging had winnowed the number of teams down to 43, with some publicly, and others quietly, withdrawing.[9] The formal vehicle competition events began on 26 April 2010, and consisted of the remaining four stages: Shakedown (26 April – 7 May 2010), Knockout ( 16–30 June 2010), Finals ( 19–30 July 2010) and Validation (August 2010).[10]
Winners
The winners of the competition were announced on 16 September 2010.[11]
Team Edison2 won the $5 million Mainstream competition with its four-passenger Very Light Car, obtaining 102.5Mpge or just below 69MPG running on E85 fuel.
Team Li-Ion Motors won the $2.5 million Alternative Side-by-Side competition with their aerodynamic Wave-II electric vehicle achieving 187MPGe.
Team X-Tracer Switzerland won the $2.5 million Alternative Tandem competition with their 205.3MPGe faired electric motorcycle.
Vehicle requirements
Within the competition division, there are two vehicle classes—mainstream and alternative—both of which have the same requirements for fuel economy and emissions, but differing design constraints. The Alternative class is further divided into tandem and side-by-side classes. Vehicles in the Mainstream Class must meet specifications that are derived from typical small, five-passenger, economy mixed-use vehicles. The Alternative Class has fewer performance and design restrictions and provides an outlet for innovation. Both classes allow entries that are modifications of an existing popular vehicle, provided that all PIAXP requirements are met.
Vehicles in both classes must have a fuel economy of 100 MPGe (21kWh or 2.35liters of petrol/100kilometer) and produce less than 200grams/mile CO2 emissions (measured well-to-wheel). For electric vehicles, the CO2 emissions requirement is a more binding constraint. Because CO2 emissions will be calculated assuming a national average of electricity sources projected to 2014, an all-electric car will have to achieve 114 MPGe in order to produce less than 200grams/mile CO2 emissions. Further, electricity consumption is measured at the "plug" side of the battery charging device, so it would have to achieve 114 MPGe, assuming 100% efficient battery charging. If the charger were 85% efficient, this requirement would grow to 134 MPGe.[12][13] In the other words, efficiency of electric cars should be not 21 but 16 kWh/100km.
Vehicles in both classes also must have features expected of a modern automobile including an enclosed cabin with windshield and windows, operating windshield wipers, washers, headlights, horn, indicators, brake lights, reflective devices, rear and side-view mirrors, and seat belts. They must have the usual automotive controls, including accelerator pedal, brake pedal, steering mechanism (not necessarily a wheel) and indicators. They must be "highway capable", which is defined as the ability to maintain 65mph (105km/h) on a four percent uphill grade and to accelerate from 40mph (64km/h) to 60mph (97km/h) in less than 9seconds. They must be able to brake from 60 to 0mph in less than 170 feet (52m), meet existing noise standards and use tires that meet automotive or motorcycle (alternative class only and only if the vehicle is otherwise eligible to be classified as a motorcycle) standards. Both must meet the same set of static and dynamic stability requirements.
The mainstream vehicle must seat at least four adults with at least two side-by-side front seats, have at least 10 cubic feet (0.28m3) of useful cargo space in one contiguous location not counting the passenger seats, accelerate from 0 to 60mph (97km/h) in 15seconds or less, and be able to drive 200 miles (320km) without refueling or recharging. The mainstream vehicle must have four or more wheels.
The alternate class vehicle must seat at least two people, accelerate from 0 to 60mph (97km/h) in 18seconds or less, and be able to drive 100 miles (160km) without refueling or recharging. The alternative vehicle has no minimum number of wheels, but it must remain upright when stopped with no driver inputs.[14]
While the main focus of PIAXP is fuel economy and carbon emissions, not safety, the vehicles must be "production capable". Therefore, the entries must either be fully compliant with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and other applicable National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requirements or compliance has to be "designed in". For example, allowance for airbags in the designs is considered acceptable without actually installing the airbags.[15] Teams are also required to submit a business plan which clearly demonstrates an ability to produce 10,000 vehicles per year. Note that teams are not required to be under-taking this plan, but the plan has to exist and the car has to be designed such that this plan is feasible.
With the lack of mainstream entrants from established automobile companies, a Demonstration Division was created so that automakers could at least display and promote their highest efficiency vehicles alongside the main competition. However, there were too few entrants by 1 March registration deadline, and this division was canceled.[16] The only confirmed entrant was the Tesla Roadster, which had dropped out of the main competition.
Vehicles in the demonstration division would have met the same requirements as mainstream class vehicles in the competition division, except for MPGe and CO2 emissions. There was no alternative class equivalent in the demonstration division. These vehicles would have been stock vehicles, i.e., vehicles identical to those for sale or pre-production prototypes of vehicles intended for sales.
Vehicles in the demonstration division would have been tested in the same way as competition division vehicles and would have participated in the PIAXP competition events under the same rules in order to demonstrate and showcase their capabilities and performance.[17]
Competition events
The competition timeline was finalized as follows:[18]
Design judging
Accepted teams must provide evidence that their vehicles are production capable, by providing a detailed Data Submissions covering four areas:
Safety and emissions: Vehicles must be designed so that, in production, they meet U.S. safety standards (FMVSS) and U.S. emission standards.
Manufacturability and cost: Vehicles must be capable of being manufactured in quantities of 10,000 per year with production costs within levels consistent with that production volume.
Features: Vehicles must have the features expected by consumers for vehicles within the projected prices range.
Business plan: There must be a credible plan to manufacture, sell and support 10,000 vehicles (or conversions) per year by 2014. The plan must address required fuel infrastructure if it does not already exist.
Those that pass this hurdle will be invited to bring their vehicles to the competition events. The design judging was closed in October 2009, with 43 teams remaining.
Shakedown stages
The first three stages are intended to be a "shake-down" period and performance in these stages do not count to final scores. The first step of the competition is the review of technical reports, technical inspection of the vehicles and performance testing of safety elements to eliminate unsafe vehicles. The two-week shakedown took place at the Michigan International Speedway, from 26 April to 7 May 2010.
Those that pass the initial technical and safety inspections and tests will participate in the remaining competition events. These include stage races, additional active safety performance tests and a dynamometer test.
Knockout stage
The next stage is a "knockout" qualifying event. To advance, vehicles must pass active safety performance tests, meet acceptable emission levels and demonstrate at least 67 MPGe on a test track. These were held at the Michigan International Speedway from 20 to 29 June 2010. After this stage, only 15 vehicles from 12 teams remained in the competition.
Finals stage
The final stage determines the winning teams. To complete the race successfully, vehicles must maintain a minimum average speed (maximum allowable time) while meeting PIAXP requirements for fuel economy (90 MPGe) and emissions. The finals also include a tie breaking race; the vehicle with the best overall time while still meeting requirements will take the purse.[19] The final stages are scheduled for 19–30 July 2010 at the Michigan International Speedway.
Validation stage
The few remaining teams were validated on dynamometers under laboratory conditions at the EPA Labs in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois. This stage is scheduled for August 2010. The validation results count toward 50% of the final efficiency figures, which together must exceed 100 MPGe.
Edison2 was an exception. The engines in both Very Light Cars failed before validation.[20] Edison2 was allowed to circumvent the rules governing procedures and provided independent third-party validation reports instead of undergoing the same validation testing as other finalist teams.[21]
Educational program
The United States Department of Energy joined the PIAXP as a sponsor, funding an educational program targeted to young people. The first component of the Education Program is a web site created in partnership with Discovery Education, www.FuelOurFutureNow.com, featuring activities for K-12 students, as well as videos, virtual labs, and interactive resources intended for use in school and in the home.
Competing teams
Although 111 teams registered for the PAIXP and paid the registration fee, [22] by 20 October 2009, the number of teams had decreased to 43, sponsoring 53 vehicles between them.[9] These remaining teams represented 10 countries (some entries listed two countries of origin) with 28 coming from the United States and 7 from the state of California. Of the 53 vehicles, 28 were in the Alternative Classes and 25 in the Mainstream Class. By 15 April, only 30 teams remained. After the shakedown completed in May, 22 teams remained.[23] A sample of the teams is shown below.
Mainstream
American HyPower – The "Zams" is a modified 2009 Toyota Prius. The all volunteer team based in Centennial, CO is composed of aerospace, electrical, and chemical engineers as well as entrepreneurs. It focuses on improving fuel efficiency through the introduction of hydrogen and a proprietary fuel augmentation device. In addition, aerodynamic modifications were made to the stock vehicle which alone, significantly improve fuel efficiency.
BITW Technologies- Demonstrated the use of Bio-Diesel as a renewable resource and curb our use of petroleum from other countries.
Edison2 – Developers of the Very Light Car, this Lynchburg, Va team of experts from auto endurance racing emphasize low weight and low aerodynamic drag as the key to automotive efficiency, and are entered in both alternative classes and the mainstream class.
Engineer – Entered the "Hybrid Steam Vehicle"
Global E – Entered two vehicles: the "Pulse" is a four-seat hatchback electric vehicle and the "G1" is a hybrid electric vehicle entered into the "alternate:side-by-side" category.
Illuminati Motor Works – The Seven is an electric vehicle with a custom designed aerodynamic body, designed by a group of volunteers from Illinois.
Liberty Motors Group – "The Liberator" is a modified 2008 Hyundai Sonata.
Team FourSight – The "FourSight" is a modified Honda Insight converted to a diesel hybrid.
West Philly Hybrid X – The "EVX Focus" is a modified Ford Focus
Alternative (Side by Side)
amp – amp'd Sky, an electric conversion of a Saturn Sky
Aptera Motors' high-efficiency passenger vehicle was a contender in the X-Prize competition.
Aptera Motors – This company was founded by Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony. They developed a three-wheeled vehicle, the Aptera 2 Series. The initial model was to be all electric, but eventually prototyped as a plug-in hybrid version. The shape of the car is credited to Jason Hill,[24] a designer who worked on the body of the Porsche Carrera GT, and to Aptera's own aerodynamicist, Miles Wheeler.[25] The design was inspired by modern composite aircraft and is legally classified as a motorcycle.[26]
Li-ion Motors – The Wave II is a battery electric vehicle with a custom battery management system and an aerodynamic composite fairing.
Optamotive – E-Rex, an electric conversion of the Campagna T-Rex
SABA Motors – The company was founded by Simon Saba, and is headquartered in San Jose, California. The SABA Carbon Zero Roadster is a four-wheeled, all-electric, two-passenger automobile, which weighs 1,900lbs.[27][28] The vehicle's battery pack contains 112 cells, and utilizes Lithium iron phosphate chemistry. The company claims performance of 0–60 in under five seconds, a top speed of 105mph, and a range of up to 140 miles.[29]
Team EVX – an electric conversion of the Smart Car
TW4XP – a human-electric hybrid derived from the Twike
West Philadelphia High School – The only high school entrant is fielding two hybrid vehicle conversions: a Ford Focus (gas PHEV) and a Factory Five Racing GTM (biodiesel HEV).
Western Washington University – Of more than five dozen entrants in the competition this is only one of three university-based teams.[30] They are based at WWU's Bellingham, Washington campus. Their group of students at Western's Vehicle Research Institute have what's been described by Automobile Magazine as having "very possibly the best school in the country for total car design."[31]
ZAP – The American/Chinese company have developed a three-wheeled vehicle, the ZAP Alias,[32] a 100% plug-in electric roadster, announced by the company to be produced in China by Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd.[33] Aerodynamic contours shape, wide stance with double-wishbone suspension, an AC24LS, air-cooled, AC induction motor running at 216 volts.[34][35]
Alternative (Tandem)
Commuter Cars – A production vehicle from this company has been sold to actor George Clooney.[36] The car, a Commuter Cars Tango, is known for its ultra-narrow profile. The Tango's narrow track is offset by its low center of gravity. The battery pack that supplies power for this all electric vehicle weighs in at 1,100lb (500kg) and is placed low in the vehicle. The car is high performance. It accelerates to 60miles per hour in four seconds and will reach a top speed of 150mph (240km/h).[37]
Future Vehicle Technologies – This Canadian company has developed the eVaro, a two-person in-line three-wheeled series-hybrid vehicle which was recently certified to have a mileage of 275 MPGe in city driving and 165 MPGe in freeway driving.
Spira4u – This lightweight two-seater has a soft foam fairing designed primarily for safety and efficiency.
X-Tracer Team Switzerland – An aerodynamically faired electric feet forwards motorcycle with outrigger wheels which deploy when stopped and retract at speed.
A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids.
Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application, and this spectrum of variance is often illustrated as a continuous energy profile. Non-transportation applications, such as industry, benefit from increased fuel efficiency, especially fossil fuel power plants or industries dealing with combustion, such as ammonia production during the Haber process.
The Honda Insight is a hybrid electric vehicle that is manufactured and marketed by Honda. Its first generation was a two-door, two passenger liftback (1999–2006) and in its second generation was a four-door, five passenger liftback (2009–2014). In its third generation, it became a four-door sedan (2018–2022). It was Honda's first model with Integrated Motor Assist system and the most fuel efficient gasoline-powered car available in the U.S. without plug-in capability — for the length of its production run.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid is a gasoline-electric hybrid powered version of the mid-sized Ford Fusion sedan manufactured and marketed by Ford, now in its second generation. A plug-in hybrid version, the Ford Fusion Energi, was released in the U.S. in February 2013.
The Ford C-Max is a car produced by the Ford Motor Company from 2003 to 2019. It has a five-door compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) design. The Ford Grand C-Max has a longer wheelbase.
A green vehicle, clean vehicle, eco-friendly vehicle or environmentally friendly vehicle is a road motor vehicle that produces less harmful impacts to the environment than comparable conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running on gasoline or diesel, or one that uses certain alternative fuels. Presently, in some countries the term is used for any vehicle complying or surpassing the more stringent European emission standards, or California's zero-emissions vehicle standards, or the low-carbon fuel standards enacted in several countries.
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engine-powered generator. Most PHEVs are passenger cars, but there are also PHEV versions of sports cars, commercial vehicles, vans, utility trucks, buses, trains, motorcycles, mopeds, military vehicles and boats.
The Monroney sticker or window sticker is a label required in the United States to be displayed in all new automobiles and includes the listing of certain official information about the car. The window sticker was named after Almer Stillwell "Mike" Monroney, United States Senator from Oklahoma.
Shell Eco-marathon is a world-wide energy efficiency competition sponsored by Shell. Participants build automotive vehicles to achieve the highest possible fuel efficiency. There are two vehicle classes within Shell Eco-marathon: Prototype and UrbanConcept. There are three energy categories within Shell Eco-marathon: battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and internal combustion engine. Prizes are awarded separately for each vehicle class and energy category. The pinnacle of the competition is the Shell Eco-marathon Drivers' World Championship, where the most energy-efficient UrbanConcept vehicles compete in a race with a limited amount of energy.
The fuel economy of an automobile relates to the distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel consumed. Consumption can be expressed in terms of the volume of fuel to travel a distance, or the distance traveled per unit volume of fuel consumed. Since fuel consumption of vehicles is a significant factor in air pollution, and since the importation of motor fuel can be a large part of a nation's foreign trade, many countries impose requirements for fuel economy. Different methods are used to approximate the actual performance of the vehicle. The energy in fuel is required to overcome various losses encountered while propelling the vehicle, and in providing power to vehicle systems such as ignition or air conditioning. Various strategies can be employed to reduce losses at each of the conversions between the chemical energy in the fuel and the kinetic energy of the vehicle. Driver behavior can affect fuel economy; maneuvers such as sudden acceleration and heavy braking waste energy.
The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles was a co-operative research program between the US government and the three major domestic auto corporations that was aimed at bringing extremely fuel-efficient (up to 80 mpg‑US vehicles to market by 2003.
The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid car manufactured by General Motors, also marketed in rebadged variants as the Holden Volt in Australia and New Zealand and the Buick Velite 5 in China, and with a different fascia as the Vauxhall Ampera in the United Kingdom and as the Opel Ampera in the remainder of Europe. Volt production ended in February 2019.
The energy efficiency in transport is the useful travelled distance, of passengers, goods or any type of load; divided by the total energy put into the transport propulsion means. The energy input might be rendered in several different types depending on the type of propulsion, and normally such energy is presented in liquid fuels, electrical energy or food energy. The energy efficiency is also occasionally known as energy intensity. The inverse of the energy efficiency in transport, is the energy consumption in transport.
Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative fuel vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles and other advanced technology vehicles with the energy consumption of conventional internal combustion vehicles rated in miles per U.S. gallon.
The Cornell 100+ MPG Team was the first officially registered university team competing in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize Competition. The group was made up of over 70 undergraduate and graduate students from six of Cornell University’s seven colleges including the College of Engineering, the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, the College of Human Ecology, and the Johnson Graduate School of Management.
The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is a plug-in hybrid liftback manufactured by Toyota. The first-generation model was produced from 2012 to 2016. The second-generation model has been produced since 2016. Production of the third-generation model began in 2023.
The Very Light Car (VLC) is a prototype design for 2- and 4-passenger automobiles emphasizing low weight and overall efficiency. It was originally developed by the Edison2 team for the Automotive X Prize competition. Two such 4-passenger cars were the only qualifiers in the finals of the "mainstream" division of the competition, and one of them won the 2010 division prize of $5 million with a competition fuel economy of 102.5 MPGe.
Illuminati Motor Works Seven is a prototype of a 4-passenger battery electric vehicle. It was handcrafted by Illuminati Motor Works (IMW), and placed second in the mainstream class of the Progressive Automotive XPRIZE with a combined rating of 119.8 MPGe. It has since achieved an EPA rating of 207 MPGe when tested at the Chrysler proving grounds through funding provided by the X PRIZE foundation and the US Department of Energy and now surpasses the MPGe of all three winning vehicles of the Progressive Automotive XPRIZE.
The University of Kansas Sustainable Automotive Energy Infrastructure Initiative, or more commonly referred to as the KU Ecohawks is an ongoing project that works to promote sustainability in the automotive sector. Founded during the beginning of the Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010 in the U.S., the group recycles old vehicles to run on community wastes and renewables, especially on the University of Kansas campus and not rely on conventional fossil fuel sources that pollute the local and global environment.
The second generation Honda Fit is a subcompact car or supermini manufactured by Honda from 2007 until 2014. It debuted on 17 October 2007 at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show.
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