Automotive X Prize News: Nov 9th, 2008

There were a series of press releases this week about teams registering for the AXP (meaning they sent in their application and $5k): Avion Cars, Physics Lab of Lake Havasu, Kinetic Vehicles.

H2Pg 100 MPG Mustang to travel to Las Vegas. Same story: Jalopnik, Autoblog Green.

VIDEO: Dagne prototype rolls, tilts, Revolution Motors is making good progress! Some serious good info about the team/vehicle in those videos...

EVCast: The Crap About ZAP, an in-depth, 1h 15min discussion of ZAP, with interviews from Wired, dealers, ZAP, and customers. It adds some balance to the discussion of ZAP on the Internet - much needed in my opinion, great work Bo & Ryan.

Long May You Run: Neil Young's Eco-Lincoln, Linc-Volt got a huge amount of press this week, thanks to this article in the New York Times and a talk at Dreamforce. There are a couple of updates on his Linc Volt YouTube Channel. Here is a sampling of other places reporting on the Linc Volt: Huffington Post, Treehugger, SF Gate / Chronicle, Engadget, Telegraph.co.uk.

Fisker Wins arbitration case with Tesla (Fisker press release), the Arbitrator expressly found that "the evidence is overwhelming that Fisker did nothing wrong" and that "Tesla's assestion of violations of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act by Fisker were baseless and neither brought nor pursued in good faith." This represents quite a difference from the public view at the time of the lawsuit!

Boyz Under The Hood, great article about West Philly Hybrid X by Rolling Stone! MUST READ!

Futuristic Aptera will achieve 300 MPG

Tesla Roadster does 12.7 second quarter mile at drag track. Tesla Board Approves $40M in Convertible Debt Financing, same story at: Autoblog Green, Wired. Cash Incentives from CARB, a $5,000 rebate if you bought a Tesla Roadster. Tesla to lay off workers in UK. Another Tesla Crash!, 100 km/h, both passengers emerged alive, although one had a broken finger bone (more at Autoblog Green),

Havasu man blazing new trail in Chevy, Jim Stanbury of Physics Lab of Lake Havasu, they are showing their regenerating shock system at SEMA.

Miles EV raises millions in Series B fundraising round, actual number of millions unclear.

EnerMotion Press Release - their vehicle is named the XP100, but few other details are given about how the vehicle will work or look.

Loremo is hiring engineers, Investment of less than $50k is now possible, I think - the latter isn't yet translated and the babelfish is a bit rough.

Sam's Club teams up with Hybrid Technologies to offer 150 mph electric sportscar.

AirPod Compressed-Air Car Nears Trial, it's MDI's tiny, silly looking, low speed vehicle. But it could prove the technology, so it's worth watching. Eco-friendly AirPods Get Airport Test.

Fountain Hills High club designs car of future, and although they were inspired by the AXP, they do not plan to enter due to fees and restrictions.

Dean Kamen showing off his new electric car, with personal license plate "REVOLT". See: slashdot comments, and from those comments, see this interesting PDF NASA study on Automotive Stirling Engine.

Free piston engines could dramatically improve efficiency of ER-EVs.

High Voltage or brownout? Ars Technica checks out the Chevy Volt. Volt will have a driver-activated "pedestrian-friendly alert", although what sound it will make isn't yet known. The Chevy Volt's Tailpipe: A Sight Unseen. The Chevy Volt will Save GM (and get the girl). GM Denies Rumor Volt Program Will be Put on Hold.

Engineering TV: Rev Up Fuel Efficiency Design Contest

Honda Webinar: The Fuel Economy Challenge

AFS Trinity pulls "150 mpge" hybrids from LA Auto Show. I have never reported on the AFS Trinity Plug-in SUV here, precisely because their claims are absurd and totally misleading - the same thing that the organizers of the LA Auto Show said, which precipitated this withdrawal. So props to the LA Auto Show for showing some backbone.