Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) has passed through a series of rigorous pre-competition qualifying stages and is now one of only two universities in the nation – the other is Cornell University – to be officially competing in the $10 million Progressive Automotive X-Prize, a global competition to produce a 100-mpg production automobile.
The first performance stage of the competition, the Shakedown Stage, runs from April 26-May 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. The field of entries now stands at 41 teams from around the world including WWU's Viking 45, having been winnowed down from more than 110 teams a year ago through a series of benchmarking and production stages.
Meeting the contest's tough deadlines proved to be almost as difficult as designing a vehicle capable of winning the X-Prize.
"We are thrilled to have passed all of the entry requirements. The past year has been the toughest with many all night sessions to meet critical deadlines in December, January and March." said Eric Leonhardt, director of the VRI.
The goal of the X-Prize competition is to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient automobiles that help break the world's addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change. To that effect, 41 teams now remain, from India's giant Tata Motors – an $8.8-billion-per-year behemoth with a nearly bottomless research budget, down to tiny teams like the VRI.
Most of these teams have been working on their project cars for almost four years, and now, in less than a month, they will all gather in Michigan and finally begin competing.
At the Shakedown Stage, Viking 45 will be tested on braking speed, lane change ability, acceleration and refueling/recharging time. Each following stage becomes more difficult, with teams being eliminated at each event. For example, X-Prize organizers anticipate that only 20-30 teams will make it through the Shakedown Stage to qualify for the Knockout Qualifying Stage at Michigan Speedway in late June; only 10-20 teams will advance to the Finals Stage in July, and from 8-15 teams making to the final Validation Stage in August. In September, three of the remaining teams will be chosen as the contest's winners, splitting $10 million in prize money between them.
"To even have gotten this far is an incredible tribute to the students who have worked tirelessly on this project," said Leonhardt. "And it's not just the Engineering Technology students who have worked on the car – the Management students who worked on our business plan, the Journalism and Communication students who helped construct out marketing and PR team … it has really a project that has touched every corner of the university."
For more information about Viking 45 or the WWU X-Prize team, contact Eric Leonhardt at (360) 650-7266 or eric.leonhardt@wwu.edu. For more on the X-Prize competition, go to http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org.
Comments