Tata Enters for Automotive X Prize - May 16th, 2008
Well, hang on to your hats for innovation to come. Tata Motors of India has signed up to compete for the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize to be awarded in 2010. And they are the first bona fide automaker to do so. The goal is for participating teams to build cars that will get 100 mpg and that can win a race series simulating real world driving conditions.
There are 70 other teams with letters of intent and the deadline to enter isn’t until later this summer. Other competitors include Canada’s Motive Industries, Western Washington University and Chicago-based Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies Inc.
The project cars have to be fuel efficient and meet carbon emission standards. Tata says it will place two entries, one each in the mainstream vehicle category and another in the alternative vehicle category which will be a pure electric. And neither entry will be the itty bitty Nano, which means they have something new up their sleeves.
A spokesperson for the contest said they don’t look for any of the Detroit big boys to get in the game. The cars that win will have to be “production capable” in quantities of 10,000 a year while meeting all U.S safety rules. It’s going to be really interesting to see what comes out of this one.
Posted on May 16th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: technology, alternative fuels |
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