[bhtooefr]

The PIAXP rules did not require actual sale, just judging of the vehicle to meet certain technical criteria and judging of a business plan to determine whether it seemed viable.

Originally Posted by PIAXP Competition Guidelines v1.3

Production Capability

How can you influence the market without requiring actual vehicle sales?

There are significant disadvantages to making the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE a “sales race,” including:

• If the sales race were held in the near term, it would limit innovation (Risk aversion, traditional vehicle development cycles, and regulatory-approval cycles are such that we would get little innovation beyond what is already emerging from the laboratory today.)
• Unfortunately, the concept of a sales race is not compelling to the media, and not nearly as compelling as a real-world stage race (To have maximum market impact, we must maximize media engagement in, and exposure of, the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition. Thus, a sales race would make it harder to attract sponsors and media partners, which in turn would limit the substantial indirect benefits of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE – publicity that attracts entrants, public education, private investment, acquisition, recruitment, etc.)
• A sales race creates an unfair advantage for established automobile manufacturers (momentum and experience, supplier and distribution relationships, fleet sales, sales networks, budgets for sales incentives and advertising, etc.), and would run counter to our goals of providing a fair and level playing field for all competitors

In addition, we believe the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE will have significant, indirect market influence that leads to vehicle sales, including:

• Fostering conditions that make investments more likely, whether in startups or at existing companies
• Providing a stage for competing vehicles to establish or build a brand and reputation
• Teams being recruited and vehicles being acquired by established companies, leading to their innovations being built and sold
• Inspiring the next generation of automotive engineers
• Pushing innovation, whether through new technologies and materials or through novel methods of production and distribution
• Inspiring the existing automotive industry to adopt a more entrepreneurial spirit and risk innovation
• Changes in public perceptions and value systems, making efficiency a value worth spending money on

Considering the implications that Oliver Kuttner made regarding not getting enough investment, I'd argue that it was actually a failure of the X-Prize, to not attract the investment resources (the prize money wasn't enough to even come close to bringing the car into production, and to their credit, Edison2 didn't pull an Elio and take preorders) that they claimed their prize would attract.