Automotive X Prize News: July 27th, 2008

Interview: Driving towards the 100-mpg car, an intereview with John Shore of the Progressive Automotive X Prize. He hints at directions the rules are going, but I didn't see anything surprising. Thanks for the link John!

Ford F-150 hybrid pickup truck gets 41 MPG, thanks to a conversion by Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies (HEVT). They are an Automotive X Prize team and they just unveiled this vehicle at the Plug-in 2008 conference. Note that 41 MPG does NOT count the electricity used, and it's only for the first 30 miles of driving; charge-neurtal operation provides 21 MPG. I'll be making a page soon. See also EV World.

Loremo - Evolution and Design, unvieling a more streamlined, taller + wider body shape. See also Autoblog Green.

A Conversation with Niel Young, by Charlie Rose. The interview is about an hour long, the peice on the Linc Volt starts at 20:30. "All of the suffering around the world is all about energy"; "This war will not go away until we solve the energy problem... until we figure out what we're doing on this planet... it's a bad war"; "all we're making is a drive train... we're putting it in a big car so that you know it can work in an SUV or truck too."

Aptera Raises more than $24M in Series C Round, see also Google.org invests in Aptera Motors, Autoblog Green, Treehugger. They will use the money for manufacturing of the typ-1, at a facility in Vista, California.

The Electric Car Cometh, featuring short blurb on the Tesla, Aptera, and Chevy Volt. Check out the extensive commentary from readers.

Tesla's Siry interviewed at BIMS, talking about Tesla's forthcoming presence in the UK/Europe. They are closing in on 100 orders so far, of an allotment of 250. Retail location in London.

Altair Nanotechnologies Signs New Agreement with Phoenix Motorcars, essentially getting a divorce from them. They will supply only 47 battery packs; this terminates their supply relationship.

Tesla Founder Martin comments on EESTOR, AXP, and Visionary Vehicles, "I think these prizes are a great way to inspire people, and I hope the automotive XPrize does exactly that."

Energy and Automotive Prize Bill, talking about a possible $500 million from the federal government for automotive prizes. Specifically, a manufacturing prize: first company to make 50,000 mid-sized sedans which get 100 MPG wins all $500M. Might be an interesting adjunct to the Progressive Automotive X Prize, but like Space Prizes, I feel that it would be much better spent on a whole series of smaller prizes.

VW Up! Delayed Five Months, as it will now have a front-mounted engine. Expected date now in 2011.

Tata Nano to come in Diesel, Electric Flavors, no word yet from Tata on what they are going to race, but I bet it will be one of these!

EPRI and 34 US and Canadian Utilities Join GM Plug-in Hybrid Collaboration, announced at the Plug-in 2008 conference. slashdot commentary.

Pipistrel: Greener Personal Aircraft, talks about a contest for 100 MPG, 100 MPH personal aircraft. Will we be flying instead of driving to get our 100 MPG?

Robocars As the Best Way Geeks Can Save the Planet, featuring a new series of essay's on the amazing future of robot cars, by Brad Templeton. Very interesting!

Toyota tops '07 CAFE numbers, will increase Prius capacity, Toyota: 29.69, Honda: 29.49, Hyundai: 29.37, GM: 25.16, Ford: 25.15, DaimlerChrysler: 23.97.

GM Explains Why the 1.4L ICE Range Extender was Chosen for the Volt, essentially smoother (than 3-cylinder) and lighter (than turbo).

Toyota Focusing on Metal-Air Cells for Next-Generation Battery Technology, which makes a lot of sense to me. If you can use air, you can get energy densities similar to liquid fuels in a battery. The down side is now you have to worry about getting the air in and out - the battery becomes almost as complicated as an engine! Also, current technology has "renewable" batteries, not rechargeable batteries: you can't just plug them in, you've got to do a special process to regenerate the metal anode.