Meet the Virginia-Built 110MPG X-Prize Car

tcd004 writes "Instead of using Detroit engineers or Silicon Valley bitheads, Virginia-based Edison2 relied on retired Formula 1 and Nascar engineers to build its entry for the X-prize. Relying on composite materials and titanium, the team assembled an ultra-lightweight car that provides all the comforts of a standard 4-passenger vehicle, but gets more than 100 mpg. The custom engineering goes all the way down to the car's lug nuts, which weigh less than 11 grams each. Amazingly, they expect a production version of the car should cost less than $20,000." Earlier today, in a Washington, DC ceremony, Edison2 received $5 million as the X-prize winner. Writes the AP (via Google) "Two other car makers will split $2.5 million each: Mooresville, N.C.-based Li-Ion Motors Corp., which made the Wave2, a two-seat electric car that gets 187 miles on a charge, and X-Tracer Team of Winterthur, Switzerland, whose motorcycle-like electric mini-car, the E-Tracer 7009, gets 205 miles on a charge. Both of those companies are taking orders for their cars."

Comments

Better story at Wired

[fiannaFailMan]

The story at Wired has pictures.

Official Edison2 website

[Anonymous Coward]

Edison 2 site that would have been linked to in the summary if anyone posting stories gave a damn anymore

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

They get 2.5 each. It was a 10 mil prize total.

Re:Nice car

[TooMuchToDo]

Like they've ensured Tesla Roadsters never get to the road, nor the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, or the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation of Toyota Hybrids. Oil companies may have been able to get a stranglehold on battery patents before, but the EV genie is out of the bottle. So, go buy one (if it fits your driving needs).

Re:Cognitive dissonance

[Fred IV]

It looks like they opted for non-scarce materials according to the official site:

The Very Light Car is a more sustainable vehicle. Not just efficient to drive, but cradle-to-grave environmentally responsible. Less mass means fewer material inputs. Energy intensive materials and hazardous or scarce materials are largely avoided in favor of conventional materials, such as aluminum and steel, that are readily available, easily made in volume, and completely recyclable.

Production costs $20,000? Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

Titanium is expensive. It's not easy to fix. And the aircraft industry has gobbled it up. My company has seen titanium prices go up 6 fold in the past few years due to the 787 and the A380 using similar titanium/composite bodies. While it's come down in the recent years, raw titanium is still roughly $11/lb, vs steel which runs about $.50/lb. While you use less lbs of titanium for a car than you do steel because titanium is lighter, it's not 5% of the weight of steel. The raw material on this thing will likely cost 5-8x what a regular car will cost.

Low Speed Vehicle

[rsborg]

There is a category rapidly emerging between the motorcycle and full-on automobile: the Low Speed Vehicle (if electric, also considered the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle). The relevant sections of the two similar articles are:

A low-speed vehicle (LSV) is a legal class of 4-wheel vehicles that have a maximum capable speed typically around 25 mph (40 km/h), and have a minimum capable speed (typically 20 mph (32 km/h)) that allows them to travel on public roads not accessible to all golf carts or neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV). The vehicles operate under very similar restrictions to but without the specification of battery electric power.[citation needed] See the NEV article for general vehicle requirements.

The NEV article states the safety requirements:

Regulations for operating an NEV vary by state. The federal government allows state and local governments to add additional safety requirements beyond those of Title 49 Part 571.500. For instance,the State of New York requires additional safety equipment to include windshield wipers, window defroster, speedometer, odometer and a back-up light. Generally, they must be titled and registered, and the driver must be licensed. Because airbags are not required the NEV cannot normally travel on highways or freeways. NEVs in many states are restricted to roads with a speed limit of 35 mph (56 km/h) or less.

In addition, some states have increased the MPH limit (owner can easily mod this) to 35MPH, allowing them to travel on 45MPH roads in the slow lane:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published safety guidelines in the United States which apply to vehicles operating in the 20-25 mile-per-hour speed range.[4] As of January 2007, twenty-five of the fifty states of the United States had passed legislation legalizing the use of low-speed vehicles on highways in the state.[4] By 2009, nearly all 50 states allow LSVs, also called NEVs, to drive on their roads. Either they follow FMVSS500 (25 mph top speed on 35 mph limit roads), or make their own more aggressive law. as of end of 2008, 9 states had made it legal to drive them 35 mph speed, most on 45 mph streets. In 2009, Texas has passed a new law (SB129) allowing them to drive 35 mph on 45 mph roads; California and New Mexico have proposed laws in their respective legislatures.

All of this adds up to a vehicle that is good for local commuting (if allowed on the 45MPH "expressways") and grocery grabbing, with minimal safety requirements and if it's non-emissions, also benefit from tax incentives.

I'm definitely keeping my eye on this, it'd be great for those days when I don't want to ride the bike to work (i.e., have to pick up the kid). The Edison2 car would fit nicely here (though it wouldn't get tax credits).

Re:Huh?

[jolyonr]

It's grammatical nonsense.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who read that and went "huh?".

Re:Nice car

[commodore64_love]

P.S.

Volkswagen is now making a two-seater that gets ~200 Highway MPG. I wish I could buy it here in the US.

Re:Nice car

[Rockoon]

The current glass in cars (for windshields) is SAFETY glass. Essentially, the glass itself is fragile on purpose, and the polyvinyl butyral in the middle only serves to hold the glass fragments together. The glass is supposed to disintegrate when faced with large stresses, but remain stuck to the polyvinyl butyral film. Plexiglass simply will not offer the disintegration behavior, as its designed for the exact opposite purpose and will not disintegrate.

Because those processes cost too much

[name_already_taken]

why weld? just form/machine the parts and then bolt together, see "billet aluminium car" by kirkham motor sports.

Machining is the most expensive way to produce a metal part. You start with a block of metal and grind away everything that isn't the part. It's very wasteful, in terms of energy, even if you recycle the waste metal chips. The cheapest methods are stamping or casting. Guess how most metal car parts are made?

Robotic welding is cheap, repeatable and produces strong assemblies. Bolting tends to be labor intensive, and adds more weight (bolts weigh more than welds).

It's not like the existing car companies haven't analyzed these alternatives more than a few times over the last 100 or so years.

Hmmph. Seat ibiza gets 97.4mpg

[edxwelch]

Seat ibiza gets 97.4mpg and it's a real car:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/237415/seat_ibiza_ecomotive.html

Re:Can it meet safety standards?

[Selfbain]

It had to in order to win the contest: http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/prize-details

Re:Sad thing being...

[Idiomatick]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_1-litre_car ? Why VW didn't get in on the competition is probably rules disallowing corporate competitors.