Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Tata Nano.

Up until today, there were no major automobile manufacturers taking part in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. That changes with Tata Motors signing a letter of intent to compete in both the Alternative and Mainstream classes. The Alternative Class allows for the use of fewer than four wheels, though Tata's intention is "to enter a pure e-drive micro car" in that class. The more relevant Mainstream Class requires four wheels, a two-hundred mile range and the equivalent of at least 100 miles per gallon from a package capable of carrying four passengers. For this class, Tata indicates that it will enter a Dominant Electric Hybrid vehicle. We're rather anxious to see what Tata is able to cook up for this eco-friendly competition, considering that whatever engineering goes into the development of its X Prize challengers can easily be applied to the production Nano, as well as Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.


[Source: AutoblogGreen]

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."
"I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that."

That type of belligerence might be coming to your car under the guise of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Many cars can already be had with the necessary hardware like GPS navigation systems that help a vehicle determine its position, and stability control that can already fire individual brakes to effect course corrections. Is the next step writing the software to interconnect those systems into an active safety net? This would effectively enable the car to steer you out of trouble if it compares your trajectory with the nav system and determines you're off-course.

Passive safety systems have seemingly hit a wall, and the mass that all that crash safety adds must be either offset through the use of more exotic and expensive materials, or the result is a stupendously heavy vehicle. The next step will be active safety, a baby-step that has already been made with stability control and active cruise control. Current maps in navigation systems aren't adequate for driver aids, as they're mainly bird's-eye-view positional representations. Once maps with more data become available, the possibility of your car bringing all its situational awareness equipment to bear so that it can execute lane changes and warn you about a blind hairpin curve coming up might not be such fantasy.

[Source: Automotive Design Line]

The New York Auto Show in March will provide the official venue to launch the Automotive X-Prize contest, but all 43 entrants will be making an advanced appearance next month in Detroit at the North American International Auto show. The teams vying for the Auto X-Prize have to bring a combination of functionality and fuel-efficiency in order to win the substantial chunk of change offered by the organizers.

The picture above is the Aptera, which through the use of either a plug-in gas-electric hybrid or a straight electric setup can get 300 mpg and has the potential of being retailed for less than $30,000. Some of the entrants could easily be chocked up to vaporware, but we're sure our colleagues at our greener sibling site will give us the skinny next month in D-town.

[Source: Click On Detroit via Jalopnik]

Click to enlarge the 1/4 scale model of the EXV-LS

Depending on whether you bought a Subaru or a Yugo, Malcolm Bricklin is either the phoenix who keeps rising from the ashes or the roach you just can't seem to stamp out. Either way, he's back and this time his Visionary Vehicles has shifted from an abortive attempt to import Chery cars from China to a developer of high mileage series hybrids. Bricklin plans to have a full line of 100+ mpg vehicles with an initial on-sale date in 2010.

To get things kicked off, the first model will be entered in the Automotive X-Prize competition. For those who haven't been paying attention, the Auto X-Prize will offer a multi-million dollar purse to a team that can build a production viable and affordable car that seats at least four and can exceed 100 mpg (gasoline equivalent). The key there is viability and affordability. No single seater science projects here. Competitors have to demonstrate a business plan in addition to an actual working car. Bricklin plans to start off with an S-Class sized luxury sedan propelled by a series hybrid drivetrain including a lithium battery. Electric range is targeted at 40-50 miles and price at $35,000. Good luck.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Sibling-blog AB Green just posted a follow-up story about the Automotive X-Prize. As we reported a few months ago, the same people who put up a bounty to encourage private space flight are doing something similar to encourage fuel-efficient vehicle innovation. The latest release from Automotive X-Prize names the first 31 teams to be accepted into the competition. The list of teams includes some familiar names, like Tesla, Zap, and Phoenix Motorcars. Fuel Vapor Technology and Team Velozzi are there, too. The 31 teams already chosen came from a stack of some 300 applications the Automotive X-Prize group received since announcing their latest competition.

The Automotive X-Prize is designed to get engineers thinking outside the box in terms of fuel economy. The goal is to develop a "commercially viable" vehicle that will get at least 100 mpg. How it's done is up to the individual teams, but they have to keep production in mind to be eligible. They even have to show a business plan proving that they can sell at least 10,000 units a year. The competition starts with peer reviews next year, and then the actual vehicle competitions in 2009. Click over to AB Green for more details.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

click above image to view more images of Team Velozzi's entry

We've told you before about the Automotive X-Prize, the contest challenge looking for producible vehicles that are designed with environmental friendliness in mind. The purpose of the contest is "to inspire the development of commercially viable, super efficient vehicles that move beyond the petroleum monoculture." Basically it's a race for "production viable vehicles" that get the equivalent of at least 100 mpg and meet some strict emissions requirements.

Split into a pair of classes, two races are planned for sometime in 2009 to evaluate all the entrants. The first class is the more practical group, requiring seating for at least four passengers and being driven by at least four wheels. The second category should be the fun one. While it requires accommodations for at least two people, there is no wheel requirement.

Category two has a new entrant. AutoblogGreen has just posted information and a gallery from Team Velozzi, an R&D group that develops alternative fuel vehicles. The vehicle design sketches they've put forth seem to be causing a bit of deja vu, however. The car looks more than a little like something out of Maranello. Well, imitation is said to be the greatest form of flattery. The car is said to use dual AC motors and lithium-ion batteries, the battery of choice these days in EV propulsion. Power is listed as running through a Weismann F1 gearbox, too. An F1-shifted electric supercar that looks like it should have a prancing horse on the hood doesn't seem to meet the "production viable" standard very well, but what do we know? If it performs half as well as it looks, we'll take two.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Sister-blog AB Green just posted this story about X-Prize. Remember X-Prize? They were the organization that put up a considerable sum of money to reward the first person to successfully go into outer space with their own spacecraft. After Burt Rutan won that first X-Prize with his SpaceShip 1, the foundation decided to get its head out of the clouds, so to speak. As a follow-up to the space program, you can probably guess what their new contest is all about, considering we're covering it on AB and AB Green. The new Automotive X-Prize is designed "to inspire the development of commercially viable, super efficient vehicles that move beyond the petroleum monoculture." Think green here.

X-Prize released their initial set of rules recently to see what everybody thinks about the plan. Basically it's a race for "production viable vehicles" that get the equivalent of at least 100 mpg and meet some strict emissions requirements. And they really want cars that can actually be produced. No science fiction one-offs here. Split into two classes, two races are planned for sometime in 2009 to evaluate the projects. The first class sounds like the more practical and familiar group, requiring seating for at least four passengers and being driven by at least four wheels. The second category should be the fun one. While they require it seat at least two people, there is no wheel requirement. X-Prize will unveil the first draft publicly at the New York Auto Show, but you can read the draft as a PDF by clicking here.

And we encourage you to click the read link to see AB Green's exclusive interview with Auto X-Prize's Mark Goodstein.

[Source: Automotive X-Prize via AutoblogGreen]