Automotive X Prize News - April 28th, 2008

Cornell Competes to Build Most Fuel-Efficient Car, which includes some interesting sponsorship information - apparently they have been doing quite well, with GE, NI, Tektronix, Toyota, Autodesk, Lockheed Martin, and many others stepping up. They have a mule cars, called "Foray", but the final (race) car is still being designed on paper.

Aptera Ramps Up for 2008 Production With Veteran Supercar Guru Neil Hannemann, who ran the Dodge Viper and NASCAR programs for Chrysler, and led Ford's GT development, among other accomplishments. Apparently cars like the Aptera typ-1 are "essentially eco-friendly supercars", and thus Neil's skills will help. See also ABG story, Business Wire.

The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), which is responsible for determining the details of how CAFE will be implemented, has made a decision. The phase-in of the new CAFE requirements will be slightly front-loaded: by 2015, the new cars will be required to get 31.6 MPG average (35.7 cars, 28.6 trucks), which represents about 60% of the distance to the 35 MPG 2020 standard, in the first half of the play. The big three seem to be OK with this.

For Earth Day, Autoblog Green did a big story: Top 20 Most Exciting Green Cars We Wish We Could Buy Today. The lists includes #20, Anything from ZAP, #19, Velozzi, #13, VentureOne, #12, Phoenix SUT, #9, Loremo, #6, Aptera Typ-1, #3, Tesla Whitestar, and two cars that *should* join the Automotive X Prize, #2, Fisker Karma, and #1, Chevy Volt.

Autoblog Green also did a story on Top Ten Most Promising Green Technologies, which includes the usual suspects. The MDI Compressed Air Engine gets a mention at #9. If you're looking for ideas on what to use for your 100 MPG car, you might find a good one here!

Triac, a highspeed 3-wheel EV, available now? Nice video, anyway. The internet doesn't seem to know anything - this came out of the blue. I am hoping to go visit to Green Vehicles, which is about 5 miles from me, so more answers soon!

Flipping the Switch on Electric Car Design, a long story which talks about the difficulties in making a production electric car. The Chevy Volt gets extensive treatment, and the Tesla Roadster and Zenn Motor Cars also get mentioned.

VW Golf TDI Hybrid Probably Dead in the Water, it would cost too much, but 60 MPG Jetta is Coming to America!.

NOVA: Car of the Future, in six chapters, totaling about an hour of video. The Automotive X Prize is NOT mentioned, which is a real shame. Some of the participants knew about the prize, so it's absence is actually rather puzzling.

Fisker Claims Lawsuits Won't Stop Q4 2009 Delivery. Tesla's lawsuit "is nonsense", according to Henrik Fisker himself.