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There are twelve teams and 15 vehicles left in the Automotive XPrize Competition.
To advance to the Finals Stage, team vehicles needed to demonstrate to the ability to achieve at least two-thirds the minimum fuel economy and range requirements. For fuel economy, this translates to at least 67 MPGe for both vehicle classes. For range, this translates to a minimum of 134 miles for Mainstream class entries (200 miles range required at the Finals Stage) and 67 miles for the Alternative class (100 miles range required at the Finals Stage).
The next step in the X PRIZE is the Finals Stage which goes from July 19th to 30th. The 12 teams that will be competing are:
Mainstream Class
•Edison2, Charlottesville, Virginia (two versions of their combustion-engined Very Light Car will be competing against one another)
Alternative Class – Tandem
•Commuter Cars, Spokane, Washington (Electric)
•Edison2, with a third version of the combustion Very Light Car
•Spira, Carrollton, Illinois/Banglamung, Thailand (Combustion)
•X-Tracer, Switzerland (Electric)
Alternative Class – Side-by-Side
•Amp, Cincinnati, Ohio (Electric)
•Aptera, San Diego, California (Electric)
•Li-ion Motors, North Carolina (Electric)
•RaceAbout Association, Finland (Electric)
•Tata Motors, Coventry, UK (Electric)
•TW4XP, Italy (Electric)
•Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington (Gas/electric)
•Zap, Santa Rosa, California (Electric)
There were also on-track emissions and dynamic safety tests. The emissions test, required for vehicles with internal combustion engines only, consists of a four lap run on Michigan International Speedway’s two mile oval, with an average speed of approximately 23 MPH. There will be six stops per lap. The dynamic safety events consist of an acceleration (0 to 60 MPH) test, braking (60 to 0 MPH) test, accident avoidance test (also known as an emergency double lane change maneuver), highway acceleration (40 – 65 MPH) test, and a lateral acceleration test
The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE is a global competition that awards a $10M Grand Prize to the first team to build a car that gets at least 100 MPGe in real world driving and is safe, affordable and desirable to offer consumers more efficient vehicle choices.
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Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.