Progressive Automotive X-Prize [Final] Round

[XprizeRoadTrip]

Originally Posted by Patrick

How did Edison2 #97 only make 95 MPGe and not get eliminated?

The threshold is 90mpg. Teams are allowed to get 90 just in case they get better than 100 at argonne labs. The field and lab results get added together. That way if a team fell short in field, but did 105 in the lab, they'd still pass.

[XprizeRoadTrip]

Hey gang, sorry to spam, but I'm trying to get to 5 posts so I can post URL's. I'm doing what Neil did on the last knockout round. I'm embedded with Edison2. I'm blogging about the event, attempting to capture what it would be like for the average Joe/Jane to travel here and witness the Xprize. The blog will continue after Xprize with transcriptions from voice recordings and any thing else I can write from the mouth of Oliver Kuttner and any scraps I didn't get to during the prize. Thread coming soon.

[NeilBlanchard]

Some pictures from the "Victory Lap" today by all the Finalists:





The WWU (second row, bottom of the bank) is now out: they could not pass the accident avoidance test withing the maximum 6 passes (they passed it on the 9th pass).

I do not yet know the status of the Edison2 #95 -- the Tandem car. It did not finish the acceleration test, nor did it attempt the accident avoidance test. (And it was not in these photos.)

Edit:

Sad news: the #95 alternative tandem blew the engine due a glitch in launch control and is out.

The Spira, Tango, amp'd Sky, and Tata (who may be appealing?) were already out -- so this would seem to leave nine vehicles in the X-Prize!

[Patrick]

So the only tandems left are the Xtracers? I'll bet those guys are dancing in the streets.

[cfg83]

Neil -

Too bad about the WWU. I liked that design.

CarloSW2

[NeilBlanchard]

Unofficially, it is: 1st: Electric Raceabout, 2nd: Li-ion, 3rd: TW4XP, 4th: Zap, 5th: Aptera

Apparently, Aptera blew 3 fuses in the battery pack because of the regen? NOT ENOUGH TESTING!!

The "consolation" race is at 2:00pm -- Tata, Tango, Spira, amp, WWU -- all the cars that have been knocked out of the Finals.

Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE on USTREAM: The $10 Million Competition for the best 100 MPGe production-capable cars. . Other Technology

Edison2 and E-Tracers will not be racing -- they have no competition.

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Apparently, Aptera blew 3 fuses in the battery pack because of the regen? NOT ENOUGH TESTING!!

...what? nobody had a spare copper penny to use as a replacement fuse (wink,wink)?

[NeilBlanchard]

Last cars are all done at the X-Prize! The amp'd Sky was the last to finish -- they crept over the finish line on the last few electrons the battery could squeeze out -- BUT they made it the 100 miles!

The little Spira had some issues (they stopped a couple of times), but they roared through the last few laps, I mean they were racin' hard!

The Tango went fast and finished easily!

And the Tata was an early DNF -- no word on what happened.

That's all of the action -- we are just waiting on the results! :-)

Oh, I almost forgot -- the 6th side-by-side was the Western Washington University Viking #45 car, and they had a damaged suspension, which is why they didn't pass the lane change test, and they didn't run in the race.

[rbrowning]

Niel, Thanks for your in-depth coverage of this progression. Obviously you spent a lot of energy in pulling this together and reporting it to us.

One change that I would have liked to have seen in the contest is allowing those that were disqualified for some reason to continue the testing but not be in the running for the money. Who knows, maybe a really great vehicle would have shown through but we will never know because it was eliminated early. I mean every mechanical device has problems that need to be overcome. But there is time after the prototype and before production to work out the little kinks. Maybe a really great car didn't make the handling test but a slight change to suspension would have cured it. Now all we know is "eliminated". I think it would have been very informative and maybe got more new product ideas germinated in the minds of the mainstream manufacturers.

[NeilBlanchard]

I agree -- the "small" breakdowns should be allowed to continue, to show their stuff, and to get good testing time in, etc. And to show more what they can do -- the more data points, the better.