I'd like to invite everyone to buy and read Jason Fagone's "Ingenious: A true story of invention, automotive daring, and the race to revive America." It covers the Xprize and all the crazy ecomodding involved.
A few interesting snippets from what I've read in the first 3rd of the book:
- Barnaby Wainfan, aero guru for Northop Grumman and Edison2, used tiny squares of scrap aluminum to create "vortex generators" on his Silver Grand Am commuter car.
- The Illuminati team hacksawed the vents out of a gym locker to help cool their battery pack.
- Before she quit, EV advocate and face/voice from "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Chelsea Sexton was the Xprize's first executive director in 2005 and thought the MPGe target should've been 250 or 500 MPGe.
- The Edison2 Very Light Car was initially drawn during a cup of Chinese black tea at a table positioned between posters of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ray Charles at a coffee shop in a strip mall near the karate dojo place where Barnaby Wainfan worked out.
Please support what is possibly the only full literary effort at covering the Xprize, one of the most challenging and rewarding ecomodding events ever conceived (my opinion, your mileage may vary, to each their own, and other disclaimers…)
Ingenious the Book « Jason Fagone (scroll down link page for purchase locations).
