$10 Million Purse Up for Alternative Vehicle Grabs

With the tip of the iceberg on more fuel-efficient vehicles being reached of late with a new rush of electric vehicle designs, it is no wonder there’s a competition as well to further promote innovation for that next generation automobile yet to grace your driveway. This competition is known as the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, and its awarding shares of a $10 million prize purse to winning teams.

A total of 43 teams, according to Progressive, are qualified to compete at this point in the competition. This contest is international in scope and brings together teams which are designing vehicles spread over six different fuel types. There are a total of 53 vehicles moving forward in the competition, with 28 represented in the Mainstream Class and 25 represented in the Alternative Class. The idea is to “design, build and bring to market 100 MPG or energy equivalent (MPGe) vehicles that people want to buy and that meet market needs for price, size, capability, safety and performance.” Performance of vehicles will be evaluated next spring, with winners be announced in September 2010.

Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize [via press release]