Doug Pelmar's 1987 Ford Mustang LX Coupe might have just become our favorite X-Prize competitor. How come? Well, first off, LX Coupes are awesome to begin with, but Mr. Pelmar's is even more special. Rather than neuter his 'Stang in the name of high efficiency, he's gone and created something that should contend in the X-Prize's "Mainstream" category, but would also be right at home on the pages of Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords. The car's engine runs on E85 for emissions purposes and has several modifications that Mr. Pelmar designed (mostly electronics, it seems) allowing it to run much more efficiently -- to the tune of a claimed 80 miles per gallon -- while producing 400 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque. He admits that he could squeeze more MPGs out if he dialed back the power some, but where's the fun in that? 80 MPG and 400 horses in a Fox body seems like a completely reasonable compromise to us.
The electric sportscar world, with Tesla as the only major player at the moment, may be getting a little more crowded as Hybrid Technologies is planning to produce a new vehicle with which to attack the Automotive X Prize. Known specifications are very limited so far, but engineers from the project are talking about Corvette ZR1-style performance numbers. According to Popular Mechanics, there are two versions of the electric supercar currently in development, both an extended-range electric-vehicle and a fully electric version.
Fuel mileage numbers from the hybrid are expected to crest 220 miles per gallon, which would be very impressive indeed, although that figure probably doesn't include the cost to charge the batteries. As of right now, we can't confirm any sort of sale date, but the company would be happy to sell you an all electric MINI Cooper for a cool 60 grand or so. With pricing like that, we're not counting on getting a cut-rate electric car from Hybrid Technologies, but sales of a super car like this could help bring more affordable electric vehicles to market, which would be more than welcome.
Up until today, there were no major automobile manufacturers taking part in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. That changes with Tata Motors signing a letter of intent to compete in both the Alternative and Mainstream classes. The Alternative Class allows for the use of fewer than four wheels, though Tata's intention is "to enter a pure e-drive micro car" in that class. The more relevant Mainstream Class requires four wheels, a two-hundred mile range and the equivalent of at least 100 miles per gallon from a package capable of carrying four passengers. For this class, Tata indicates that it will enter a Dominant Electric Hybrid vehicle. We're rather anxious to see what Tata is able to cook up for this eco-friendly competition, considering that whatever engineering goes into the development of its X Prize challengers can easily be applied to the production Nano, as well as Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.
"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."
"I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that."
That type of belligerence might be coming to your car under the guise of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Many cars can already be had with the necessary hardware like GPS navigation systems that help a vehicle determine its position, and stability control that can already fire individual brakes to effect course corrections. Is the next step writing the software to interconnect those systems into an active safety net? This would effectively enable the car to steer you out of trouble if it compares your trajectory with the nav system and determines you're off-course.
Passive safety systems have seemingly hit a wall, and the mass that all that crash safety adds must be either offset through the use of more exotic and expensive materials, or the result is a stupendously heavy vehicle. The next step will be active safety, a baby-step that has already been made with stability control and active cruise control. Current maps in navigation systems aren't adequate for driver aids, as they're mainly bird's-eye-view positional representations. Once maps with more data become available, the possibility of your car bringing all its situational awareness equipment to bear so that it can execute lane changes and warn you about a blind hairpin curve coming up might not be such fantasy.
