Dream Machine

This article discusses features of a high-efficiency car. The group setting up the contest, the X Prize Foundation, used a cash prize to lure a private company to launch its own space vehicle. Automakers have been better at producing high-efficiency concepts, such as the Chevy Volt than actual high-mileage cars. After the success of the Ansari X Prize, the directors of the X Prize Foundation looked for other fields in need of a push. In an era of rising gasoline prices and stagnant fuel efficiency marks, the idea of setting up a prize for a highly fuel-efficient vehicle was a natural. The contest tests vehicles on several factors, not just the single metric of fuel economy. The eventual winner of the Automotive X Prize will be much different. For starters, the car must meet federal safety standards and will be judged on physical attributes such as exterior styling, interior comfort, and the quality of the workmanship. According to the managers of the competition, the most important objective of the Automotive X Prize is to encourage not only the mainstream industry but also people on the periphery to really layout on the table some strong ideas.