Three Teams Awarded Share of $10 Million Purse in Progressive
Insurance Automotive X PRIZE for Super Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
Prize Awarded Sept. 16th at
Ceremony in
WASHINGTON
(September 16, 2010) – The X PRIZE Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize
organization, and Progressive Insurance, the country's fourth largest auto
insurance group, today, at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., awarded
$10 million to three teams who successfully completed the rigorous Progressive
Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The winning teams—Edison2 of Lynchburg, Virginia;
X-Tracer of Winterthur, Switzerland; and Li-ion Motors Corp. of Mooresville,
North Carolina—emerged from an original field of 111 competing teams, representing
136 vehicle entries from around the world. The winning vehicles were showcased
to an audience of auto industry, business and government leaders. Each of the
winning teams was also presented with a towering bronze trophy designed by
Harry Winston, Inc.
The
Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE was launched in 2008 to inspire a new
generation of viable, safe and super fuel-efficient vehicles capable of
achieving 100 miles per gallon or the energy equivalent (MPGe). Now, after
nearly 30 months of vehicle and business plan development, on-track testing at
Michigan International Speedway which included dynamic safety testing by
partner Consumer Reports, and laboratory verification at the Department of
Energy's Argonne National Lab, three vehicles emerge as winners:
While
the prize has now been awarded, the journey continues for the winning teams.
They will immediately begin leveraging their winning status, prize money and
connections made over the course of the competition to catapult their vehicle into
the consumer market. Under a U.S. Department of Energy-funded technical
assistance program, qualified Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE
competitors will also gain funding support for access to key automotive
expertise and test facilities. The aim of the program is to assist teams in
readying their vehicles and technologies for introduction to the market.
"We've
seen a shift in the market since we first launched this competition, and a
greater awareness by people everywhere to think more seriously about the
actions we take, and how they affect our environment," noted Peter Diamandis,
Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "Gas mileage ranks as one of our
top concerns when purchasing a new vehicle and I believe strongly that the
innovations showcased throughout the life of this competition will continue to
impact and improve our car buying options for the future."
"Congratulations
to the winners and to all the teams who competed over the course of this
competition. Their innovations and hard work are truly inspirational," said
Glenn Renwick. "We're extremely proud to support a competition that will result
in more super fuel-efficient vehicle choices; choices that will make people's
lives better."
The
Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE is the second X PRIZE awarded by the X
PRIZE Foundation, known worldwide as a leading organization for bringing about
radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity through incentive prizes.
For
detailed information about each winning team and to learn more about the
competition, visit www.progressiveautoxprize.org.
…More than the award itself is
the chance to set our place in the history books as helping to pioneer the evolution
of the automobile; for this opportunity we have to thank Progressive Insurance,
Cisco, the complete X PRIZE staff and the people that believed in the X PRIZE,
our own investors, leaders and supporters as well as the entire staff and
families at Li-ion Motors. ALL are responsible for this moment. –Ron Cerven
(Acceptance Speech)
Copyright © 2013 Li-ion Motors Corp.
