70 Teams Down, 41 To Go in Auto X-Prize Competition

• Automotive X Prize
• X Prize
• Google
• fuel economy

Last June, 111 teams submitted entries to the Progressive Auto X-Prize. Steve Wesoloski, the Director of Technical Operations, and his group of experienced auto engineers poured over the blueprints and judged the potential safety, manufacturability, and economy of the designs. If the judges felt that a proposed vehicle was off the mark in those areas, it was disqualified. In the end, 51 cars entered by 41 teams were accepted.

The 51 cars are split nearly in half between two classes. The Mainstream class, which are typical five-passenger economy cars, has 27 cars and the Alternative Class, two-seaters with less restrictive rules, holds the remaining 24. All the cars will gather for the first time on April 26, 2010 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) for a week of shakedown testing.

The initial meeting will not be judged. Teams will simply have the opportunity to test and present their cars to Wesoloski's team without fear of being eliminated. The teams will then have roughly six weeks to remedy any problem areas before the first knockout round that takes place from June 20-28, again at MIS.

During MIS the cars will be tested extensively. Organizers will measure acceleration, braking, and handling performance. At this stage, teams will have to achieve at least 67 miles per gallon and hit targets for range, emissions, and real-world performance—including a hill climb test.

Those teams that make it through will return to MIS on July 19. After abbreviated driving and inspection tests, the cars will be tested for aerodynamic efficiency and rolling resistance. There will also be maximum and minimum times for driving challenges that the cars must meet.

In August, the top ten surviving cars from each class will convene at the EPA labs in Ann Arbor, MI and Argonne National Labs in Chicago. Under controlled ambient conditions, the cars will be tested to validate the on-track results. Armed with reams of data and using an algorithm that weights the fuel economy, production feasibility, cost, and several other factors, the organizers will determine the winners for each class.

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