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The Progressive Automotive X Prize begins this month, with judging on the 136 official entries starting soon.  To get in, these cars had to meet specific criteria, not the least of which is the ability to get at least 100mpg.  The hardest to meet, however, is commercial viability.  The vehicle must have a plan for mass production.

“These cannot be science projects,” says Eric Cahill, the X Prize’s senior director.  “The bottom line ultimately is, can these vehicles be viable in the marketplace in the near term?”

The testing this month is mainly to vet out those that aren’t viable contestants: the ones with weak commercial plans or that can’t make the 100mpg litmus. The more rigorous testing begins later this year with the final winner being announced in September, 2010.

Two vehicle classes are being considered, with $5 million in winnings going to each. The “mainstream class” are vehicles with at least four wheels and that can carry at least four passengers and have a minimum 200-mile range.  The “alternative class” is for vehicles outside of that, with the ability to carry at least two passengers and have a 100-mile range.  There will be two winners in the alternative class, each getting $2.5 million.

The 111 teams (totalling 136 vehicles) that have entered include no major automakers, surprisingly.  There is a special “demonstration division” in which some mainstream manufacturers are entering, but these are not comp

edition vehicles and are for publicity only. To get into this showcase, entrants must already be selling four-wheeled vehicles in the U.S. or Europe at more than 10,000 units per year.

Highlighted competitors in the real X Prize include Tesla Motors, Aptera, Tata Motors, the West Philly Hybrid X Team, and a lot of others.

Source: New York Times