Cars of the Future

The article “Open Roads” in Mechanical Engineering discusses the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize Competition in which teams attempted to build a car that could get 100 miles per gallon.  No limitations were imposed on the design of the cars; they only had to meet certain performance marks.  This resulted in an incredibly wide range of innovative ideas.

The Automotive X Prize was created in 2007 with a $10 million prize poll to encourage the development of high efficiency vehicles.  Teams are rewarded for a car that gets at least 100mpg and meets EPA emissions standards.  For those that made the mark, races determine the winner.  The cars would also have to meet a safety standard and the team would have to have a business plan for realizing mass production.

This past April, 21 companies presented 26 cars, only 15 of which passed the fuel efficiency and emissions standards.  

Here are some of the cars that were in the competition

The Tango – Commuter Cars, Spokane, Washington

The Tango is a very small compact only 39 inches wide, which is half the width of a normal car.  One distinguishing feature of the Tango is that it’s already a production vehicle.  The company’s president and driver, Rick Woodbury, reasoned that the small footprint of the car would reduce traffic congestion in addition to the fuel savings.

The battery power doesn’t have a long range, but can seat two.  At any rate, the car wasn’t meant to be driven long distances, but is designed for one purpose – the daily commute.  In fact, in many cities, it’s legal for a motorcycle or vehicle of similar width to run between traffic lanes.  The Tango can do just that.

With the small design the Tango can do 0-60mph from a stop in 4 SECONDS, while the electric motors delivering an astonishing 1000 ft.lb of torque.

The Tango is also about 3,300 lbs, one of the heaviest, and is solidly built with a race car style roll cage to protect the driver.

The Very Light Car – Edison2, Lynchburg, Virginia

Mounting the wheels away from the body inside a fuselage allowed for good handling and less air drag.  A Yamaha 250cc motorcycle engine powers the car, and was modified to re-circulate exhaust gas, which preheats intake air, improving efficiency.  Due to the small engine, every component on the car was made as light as possible, resulting in a weight less than 750 lbs.  The drag coefficient of .159 is impressive compared to about .3 for a normal car.  However, safety is a concern with the extremely lightweight vehicle.

The Viking 45

Unlike most other cars, the Viking 45 was built by students at the Vehicle Research Institute at Western Washington University.  This car was built with one thing in mind – to save money.  With the limited budget, they chose a 3-cylinder Honda Insight engine.  One extremely innovative aspect of the Viking was the construction of a carbon composite chassis, reducing the weight to 1,835 lbs.

There are still many tests to pass.  In late July, the Very Light Car did a 200 mile test with fuel still left and the end, averaging about 120 mpg, which will probably be good enough to win its class.  The Tango was eliminated for not meeting the fuel economy standard, and the Viking the 60 to 0 braking test.

At any rate, I think this is a great way to propel spur a new generation of high efficiency vehicles.  All the cars entered have design aspects that have never been seen before.

One thing to keep in mind is form and function.  Many people may be turned off by the small size or radical designs, but they are not meant to carry a lot of people or tow heavy items.  They are designed for efficiency.  Think of how many people drive their SUV’s and trucks to work every day by themselves; this represents a lot of wasted money and energy.  For some, these vehicles may be the answer they’ve been looking for.

I love my gas guzzling truck, but I think for daily commute purposes something like these cars would be ideal.