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Posts with tag x-prize

Poulsen Hybrid car conversion kit takes aim at X-Prize, your wallet

by Donald Melanson, posted May 8th 2008 at 2:48PM

While most of the Automotive X-Prize entrants are vehicles built from the ground up for maximum gas mileage, Poulsen Hybrid's entry takes a considerably different tact, with it consisting simply of a kit that can be attached to any old car. That kit consists of two hybrid electric motors with rare earth permanent magnets that (as you can see above) are mounted on the outside of the vehicle, which are tied to a 72V 120Ah Deep Cycle Lead Acid battery pack on the inside. According to Poulsen, once installed, the system effectively turns a front-wheel drive car into an all-wheel drive car, and results in a driving "effect" that is " equivalent to freewheeling down a 3% grade," with the accelerator needing to be depressed less or not at all to keep the car moving. Also unlike most other X-Prize competitors, Poulsen intends to make its kit available to the general public in the not to distant future, and for the relatively bargain price of $3,300, no less (add an extra $600 to that if you don't think you're up to installing it yourself).

[Via Autoblog Green]

Automotive X-Prize challenge ignored by major carmakers

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Feb 4th 2008 at 3:31AM


Sure, you'd think that major automakers would want to get in on the Automotive X-Prize challenge, a contest seeking to help create the first 100 MPG car, if only just to show off their engineering prowess and interest in future technologies. Of course, you'd be wrong. Not a single, big commercial carmaker has thrown its hat in the ring, and X-Prize organizer Donald Foley has a theory: fear of losing the game to a small start-up. Obviously, all the major players have an excuse when it comes to their lack of participation; Ford is busy with its EcoBoost program, GM is working with Carnegie Mellon University on similar technology. Unfortunately, the loser here is the consumer, who'd get another push towards more fuel efficient vehicles, resulting in less money spent at the increasingly pricey pump. It looks like another sign that the innovation which used to come from monolithic corporations is now emanating from the little guy. Can the Linux Car be far off?

Additional Automotive X-Prize details revealed

by Donald Melanson, posted Dec 6th 2007 at 1:47PM

For a competition that still hasn't officially launched, the Automotive X-Prize has certainly been doing a pretty good job of making itself known, and we've now got yet more details on it courtesy of the folks at CNET. First up, it seems that the X-Prize Foundation will finally get official with the competition "sometime next year," although likely not before the New York Auto Show in the spring. Before that, however, the Foundation will be showing off some or all of the 43 contenders currently signed up at the Detroit Auto Show in January including, among others, Aptera's 300 mile-per-gallon car pictured above. What's more, given that the competition only seeks to find a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon, it would seem that Aptera would have a considerable advantage -- assuming it can actually back up its claims, that is. Hit up the read link below for a peek at some of the other competitors.

Lunar Lander Challenge set to kick off with $2M at stake

by Donald Melanson, posted Oct 25th 2007 at 12:51PM

It looks like New Mexico's the place to be for anyone looking to catch a glimpse of a possible future mission to the moon, with the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge set to get underway tomorrow at the Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo. As an added incentive for competitors, NASA is ponying up $2M in prizes, although they'll have their work cut out for them if they want to take that home. Specifically, they need to show off a rocket-propelled vehicle and payload that "takes off vertically, climbs to a defined altitude, flies for a pre-determined amount of time, and then land vertically on a target that is a fixed distance from the launch pad." Then they have to do that all over again within a predetermined period of time. To open things up a bit, there's also two difficulty levels but, as with all challenges of this sort, no one takes home a prize unless they fully meet all the requirements.

[Via Physorg, photo courtesy of X-Prize Foundation/Paragon Labs]

Buy your way into the X-Prize Lunar Lander Challenge

by Donald Melanson, posted Feb 7th 2007 at 3:28PM

If you're looking to get in on a piece of that X-Prize pie but find yourself lacking in that little requirement of aerospace engineering expertise, you now have a chance to make up for your chosen career path, with one team competing in the X-Prize's Lunar Lander Challenge offering up a piece of the action on eBay. While it's certainly a gamble, should the team actually win, the one lucky bidder could be taking home up to $650,000 in prize money, not to mention one of the two actual lunar lander vehicles set to take part in the competition. For your trouble, they'll also let you plaster your name or company logo on the sides of the craft. Of course, given that the only glimpse of the vehicle is the mockup seen after the break, the chances of it being ready for the X-Prize competition this October would seem to be a little slim, especially if the bidding stays at the current four digit level. If you've got deep enough pockets, however, you can swoop in a snag it outright for the Buy it Now price of $199,000, giving the team a seemingly much-needed shot in the arm.

[Via Uber-Review]

Continue reading Buy your way into the X-Prize Lunar Lander Challenge

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