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" 10. West Philly Hybrid EVX West Philly Hybrid X (Philadelphia, Pa.) /// 130 mpg (both) /// $25,000 /// EVXTeam.org  Could a bunch of teenagers in an after-school class really build the first mainstream plug-in hybrid not coming out of Detroit? Don&amp;#039;t put it past Simon Hauger&amp;#039;s mechanical engineering students at West Philadelphia High School--they&amp;#039;ve already won the Tour de Sol with an up-converted electric Saturn and the biodiesel Attack convertible pictured above. &amp;quot;Because they&amp;#039;re kids, they&amp;#039;re not limited by the common laws of physics--I never would have thought of some of their ideas,&amp;quot; says Hauger, a math and physics teacher by day who started the program nine years ago with electric go-kart builds. &amp;quot;The other limitation is that because we&amp;#039;re a small high-school team, we can&amp;#039;t dream so far out of the box.&amp;quot; But lithium-ion hybrid mods on a Toyota Corolla are a pretty good place to start for these surprisingly serious contenders. How It Works Combining an Azure Dynamics electric drive system with a Corolla chassis, Hybrid X plans to produce at least two different prototypes of its EVX--first a two-cylinder diesel hybrid, then a gas version, and a possible ground-up build with a mystery biofuel courtesy of feel-good investors lining up by the minute. Like many competitors for the AXP, Hauger remains skeptical of promises from li-ion battery suppliers, so he and two other program administrators are now scouting new companies. A medium-length 110-volt charge should provide 40 miles on electricity alone, with perhaps upward of a 500-mile range after that.  Bottom Line To get a prototype EVX on the road by summer&amp;#039;s end in the buildup to X Prize stage races next fall, Boeing engineers will help the West Philly kids with body modifications and fuel-economy tests at a nearby wind tunnel. Meanwhile, Drexel University&amp;#039;s MBA program has signed on to create a business plan to turn a high school&amp;#039;s dream car into a sub-$25,000, American-made, four-door plug-in--and market it to the biggest fleet customers in the industry. &amp;quot;I think a lot of teams are missing the point,&amp;quot; Hauger says. &amp;quot;You can spend oodles of time to model this stuff, or you can just go build the thing, put it on the road, and make modifications from there to the finish line.&amp;quot; --Matt Sullivan  9. Velozzi Supercar and Solo SUV Velozzi (Beverly Hills, Calif.) /// 100 mpg (both) /// $100,000-plus (supercar), $30,000-$35,000 (SUV) /// velozzi.org  They may not have a running prototype today, but the 20-member crew at Velozzi does have extensive plans and an inventive design for both a supercar (pictured above) and a mass-production SUV. A full-scale design buck is being constructed right now, with a powertrain in tow and plans to line up suppliers soon. CEO Roberto Velozzi tells PM that 300 acres have already been allocated for a solar-powered production plant in China, while the South African government has expressed interest in its own facility. The company is also exploring retail options that include stand-alone dealerships. How it Works Team Velozzi will enter the AXP with two plug-in hybrids; the original powertrain element for both will be microturbines functioning as onboard generators to charge the batteries. &amp;quot;These are just very small versions of the turbines you might find in a helicopter and can handle a variety of liquid fuels,&amp;quot; Roberto Velozzi says of the microturbines, which have been undergoing bench testing for four months. &amp;quot;When you run them at the right rpm, they can be incredibly efficient.&amp;quot; For the 3000-pound-plus supercar to hit its targets of a 200-mph top speed and 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, however, carbon-fiber bodywork and a lightweight tub (aluminum, composite or carbon fiber) aren&amp;#039;t going to cut it alone--battery tech will be key. Velozzi admits that the cost of packs from U.S. suppliers has been a major hurdle, so the company will likely source them from China. Bottom Line This appears to be a well-rounded squad, with engineering experience in Formula One race cars, fuel-cell vehicles and high-performance racing boats--not to mention concept cars at top firm Metalcrafters and high-level supply companies. Though there&amp;#039;s a lot of outsourcing to China involved, Velozzi will work with Bayer Material Science to produce bodywork in bulk and Virginia Tech to reinforce it with carbon nanotube pellets. Plans are for the supercar and SUV to hit the global market by 2010. --Ben Stewart 8. Loremo LS, GT and EV Loremo (Munich, Germany) /// 120 mpg (LS), 80 mpg (GT), 95-mi. Range (EV) /// $23,000 (LS), $31,000 (GT), $46,000 (EV) /// evolution.loremo.com  This German company is championing the time-honored principle that low weight and low drag can combine to max out on fuel economy. Like many other AXP competitors, Loremo&amp;#039;s qualified group of engineers and entrepreneurs isn&amp;#039;t reinventing the wheel, but it&amp;#039;s taking proven tech in a new direction--and this is one helluva design. At around 1200 pounds, the base coupe weighs about half as much as your everyday sedan, but manages to squeeze in four passengers--two in the front by lifting up the entire front cowl and windscreen, plus two kids in the back with vestigial rear seats.  How it Works Loremo was one of the few companies not to respond to multiple requests from PM before press time, but the impression we got from their unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show was that they&amp;#039;re entering the sporty LS coupe, a prototype of which has been spotted out on the test track. A modest 20-hp, two-cylinder turbodiesel feeds power to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission, but this vehicle isn&amp;#039;t about the powertrain. With a 0.22 aerodynamic drag coefficient multiplied by a tiny frontal area, the coupe&amp;#039;s top speed and highway fuel economy should be outstanding (ultra-low-rolling-resistance tires help, too). And while a full electric Loremo could be in the cards, the three-cylinder, 50-hp EV is only going to reach jaw-dropping range if Loremo can hit its 1620-pound weight target--and that&amp;#039;s going to take state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, fast.  Bottom Line There&amp;#039;s a lot of early hype behind Loremo&amp;#039;s design, and it looks like that&amp;#039;s translated into a lot of early investment. The company&amp;#039;s plan to start production by 2009 seems feasible, with an off-the-shelf engine and gearbox already making up the guts of a fairly well-finished prototype. Whether all that money and resources translate into a serious competitor on race day remains to be seen. --Mike Allen 7. Motive Switch Motive Industries (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) /// 100 mpg /// Pricing not available /// motiveind.com  These engineers are bold about their capabilities and honest when it comes to their limitations: &amp;quot;We have the experience building vehicles, but not necessarily the powertrain systems experience,&amp;quot; admits Motive VP of engineering Nathan Armstrong, a veteran of small production and high-end-concept-vehicle development. The team has completed the design phase for the battery exchange hybrid electric vehicle and is getting to mill the first full-size vehicle body. As the AXP moves forward, Motive plans to showcase the prototype and partner with powertrain experts from other teams or companies that don&amp;#039;t have their kind of design--or a means of production.  How it Works Motive&amp;#039;s four-passenger, two-door &amp;quot;hot hatch&amp;quot; runs about the size of a Toyota Matrix or Volvo C30. It&amp;#039;s a range-extended hybrid that will use a small internal combustion engine as a generator. Armstrong thinks a tiny, 800-cc diesel or a motorcycle engine would work well, but he&amp;#039;d really like to employ a miniturbine. The four-year-old company is pairing with Weismann Transmissions to develop the world&amp;#039;s first six-speed EV transmission, with software controls by systems supplier Flextronics. What&amp;#039;s more, Motive plans to use an aluminum and composite-steel body structure with an aluminum framework around the battery box--one that lets you easily remove and replace battery packs. Bottom Line In terms of ultimate feasibility, that&amp;#039;s the big idea behind the Switch: Provide consumers with a hybrid that gets serious range, then make them replace their own batteries. With funding from Simmons Financial Holding Corporation and a staff that will expand from eight to 20 by year&amp;#039;s end, Motive can hopefully find some suitable gearhead geeks to get them from mill to rent-by-mile by the AXP&amp;#039;s racing rounds. --B.S. 6. VentureOne Venture Vehicles (Los Angeles, Calif.) /// 100 mpg /// $22,000-$25,000 /// FlyTheRoad.com  The three-legged race to 100 mpg is on, and Venture Vehicles is at the start line with a slew of big-time backers and a full-scale model of its trikelike hybrid--an aerodynamic wunderkind they say will go 0 to 60 in 6 seconds. Based on the Carver vehicle, already available in Europe, the VentureOne is classified as a motorcycle, but Venture claims the tandem tilter is considerably safer. &amp;quot;Narrow vehicles can be quite unstable, but our vehicle will lean into curves to provide control,&amp;quot; founder Ian Bruce told PM at the New York auto show in March. Add a fully enclosed body, steering wheel, foot pedals, gear lever and an upright seat as high off the road as a BMW 3 Series, and the VentureOne seems a lot more carlike than comic-book. How it Works The onboard gas/electric hybrid propulsion system uses a small rear-mounted internal-combustion engine that can burn gasoline, E100 pure ethanol or any blend in between. This engine is used to drive a generator in the range of 15 to 20 kilowatts, which in turn produces electricity that powers the vehicle&amp;#039;s electric motors. But Venture will test two different prototypes for the AXP--one all-electric and one 100-plus-mph hybrid, with a Lithium-Ion battery pack. The Carver&amp;#039;s Dynamic Vehicle Control, meanwhile, allows the VentureOne&amp;#039;s front wheel--and its two passengers--to bank up to 45 degrees as it corners, with force passing through the centerline. Bottom Line Crazy as it may sound for such a seemingly weird design, Venture has said it will rev up production beyond the mockup it presented in New York and produce over 5,000 hybrid tilters per year, beginning as early as late 2009. Then again, with partners ranging from Roush to Swift Engineering, these Californians might curve right through production and into the driver&amp;#039;s seat for the AXP--if its multitude of safety features hold true. --Brittany Marquis 5. Fuel Vapor al\u00E9 Fuel Vapor Technologies (Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada) /// 92+ mpg /// $30,000-$100,000 /// fuelvaporcar.com  Six middle-age guys working out of a small garage have already built three prototypes of this three-wheeler, and they claim it can hit nearly 100 mpg today. Does that mean Canada could soon be the birthplace of the most efficient gasoline vehicle ever? &amp;quot;Basically, we&amp;#039;re going one step beyond fuel injection--no liquid gas enters the engine,&amp;quot; FVT head of business operations Todd Pratt tells PM. He says the vapor production is still being tweaked, but FVT is confident enough in its so-called al\u00E9 vehicle to use it as a basis for a hybrid version that will compete in the X Prize. How it Works The central component is a fuel conversion system that vaporizes gasoline before it enters the al\u00E9&amp;#039;s engine--an idea developed more than 25 years ago by FVT founder George Parker (the company is officially just two years old). The result, when combined with a narrow, aerodynamic fiberglass body on a three-wheel chassis, is an astonishing 92 miles per gallon--not to mention a 0-to-60 time around 5 seconds. FVT intends to design a series hybrid that shares the body of the current gas-only al\u00E9, with a small onboard generator that utilizes the vapor technology to charge lithium-ion batteries for extended range. Bottom Line If the new hybrid model can significantly increase the al\u00E9&amp;#039;s fuel efficiency when it hits the road within the next two months, FVT could have a serious contender on its hands. The company&amp;#039;s production plans remain under wraps and development partners unnamed, but our instincts tell us FVT has the technology to secure the $1 million these garage tinkerers think they need to get certified. -- Emily Masamitsu 4. Phoenix SUT Phoenix Motorcars (Ontario, Calif.) /// 200-mi. range /// $47,500 /// phoenixmotorcars.com  In the race to build an electric vehicle, the middle ground has been the road less traveled--minimalist maintenance trucks, two-passenger city cars and supped-up roadsters aren&amp;#039;t exactly mass-market friendly. But the sport utility truck and SUV from Phoenix Motorcars, a legit player in the next-gen car scene since 2001, have the potential to be zero-emissions, all-electric vehicles for the average driver. &amp;quot;We want to show consumers what they can expect from an electric car in the near future,&amp;quot; says Phoenix VP of sales and marketing Bryon Bliss. While an exact schematic for their AXP entry is not finalized, Bliss says the car won&amp;#039;t depart dramatically from Phoenix&amp;#039;s SUT/SUV platform--already set for a limited 400-vehicle production run within the month. How it Works Beneath the exterior of Phoenix&amp;#039;s AXP entry, Bliss estimates a 35-kilowatt-hour battery array will power the vehicle&amp;#039;s proprietary motor, which the company says is 96 percent efficient. The vehicle will be designed to perform in normal driving conditions, with a top speed of 95 mph and a range of more than 100 miles per charge. For the SUT&amp;#039;s power pack, Phoenix is still deciding between lithium-polymer and lithium-titanate batteries. The advantages of lithium-polymer include high energy density, resulting in the potential for more than 10,000 charge cycles. Lithium-titanate batteries, meanwhile, can charge within 10 minutes using a 250-kw external commercial-grade charger--or in the standard 5 to 6 hours using a standard 220-volt outlet. Bottom Line With its familiar, passenger-friendly plug-in electric SUVs and SUTs, Phoenix could easily overcome consumer resistance to alt-fuel vehicles. The company is also one of the few AXP entrants that will actually begin production before the race is underway. We&amp;#039;d like to see specific test results of the discharge rate under a range of driving conditions, but Phoenix is a very serious contender for taking home the $10 million. --E.M. 3. Hybrid Technologies [Name Unkown] Hybrid Technologies (Moorseville, N.C.) /// 300-mi. range /// $45,000-$65,000 /// hybridtechnologies.com  With three lithium-ion EVs on sale today, Hybrid Technologies has already made the 100-mile-per-charge dream a reality. Unlike many of its AXP competitors, then, these Southerners enter the race with real-world experience in development, marketing and manufacturing. The startup will compete in the four-wheel mainstream category, but it&amp;#039;s holding off on designs until the X Prize Foundation finalizes regulations on safety testing and touring distances. &amp;quot;There are some million-dollar questions that are not confirmed,&amp;quot; says HT project development engineer Ron Cervin. Among them: What exactly is going to power the brazen inventors of a 175-mph electric sports car (pictured above, next to a sneak peek at an AXP design) toward a 300-mile-per-charge range, or beyond? How it Works Hybrid Technologies has developed various chemistries internally for li-ion, but at this point they&amp;#039;re still outsourcing beyond the U.S. for batteries. Their X Prize vehicle will most likely debut a brand-new pack from that supplier, but any specific performance and aerodynamic details would just begin with its current lineup--ranges between 100 and 120 miles, top speeds from 70 to 120 mph, engine power ranging from 48 to 78 kW, full charges anywhere from six to 10 hours. So far it&amp;#039;s no power output, no design. But with OnStar-esque battery management warning systems and real-world crash testing, the company seems poised to take existing designs and soup them up with a superbattery. Bottom Line We&amp;#039;ve test driven three of HT&amp;#039;s all-electric vehicles--the roadster, plus a Mini Cooper and a motorcycle--and came away very impressed. Since it&amp;#039;s still not producing on a mass scale, the company seems poised to focus a ton of its development energy on the X Prize, so don&amp;#039;t be surprised if it&amp;#039;s the first startup you&amp;#039;ve never heard of taking home $10 million for a convertible. --B.M. 2. Tesla WhiteStar Sedan Tesla Motors (San Carlos, Calif.) /// MPG, range unknown /// $50,000-$60,000 /// teslamotors.com  Many believe the future of the electric vehicle rests on the shoulders of this fledgling Silicon Valley automaker. While that&amp;#039;s debatable, this much is true: Tesla is a force to be reckoned with in the battery-powered arena, already striking fear into several of the teams we spoke to, and Elon Musk&amp;#039;s flashy startup should be considered a front-runner for the Automotive X Prize. That is, if they can deliver their new sedan in time. How it Works The four-door mainstream WhiteStar should be offered as an all-electric model with a range somewhere between 150 to 200 miles, or a range-extended vehicle at around 400 miles but only 40 to 50 on all-electric power--think the Chevy Volt, with a gas-engine generator to recharge on the road. Unfortunately, that&amp;#039;s about all we know of Tesla&amp;#039;s X Prize car; the always tight-lipped company is in the throes of a legal battle, and wouldn&amp;#039;t want to give away a potential $10 million design anyway. But the sedan should be based on some of the same tech as Tesla&amp;#039;s Roadster (pictured above)--a juicy battery pack with thousands of tiny li-ion cells, strong but light carbon fiber, and all the serious handle we loved on our test drive that makes the company&amp;#039;s all-electric products very buyable. Bottom Line So far Tesla has raised $105 million from investors, maybe not enough to compete with Detroit, but certainly enough to outrun AXP teams if they focus their energy on the race. And even if Musk and Co. have their sights set on a bigger prize--bringing a mass-market, more affordable Roadster stepchild to market--the X Prize by 2009 might be enough to win the race and finally put Tesla cars in American garages. --Chuck Tannert 1. Aptera Typ-1 e and Typ-1 h Aptera (Carlesbad, Calif.) /// 120-mi. range (electric), 300-mi. range (hybrid) /// $30,000 (electric), price not available (hybrid) /// aptera.com  Steve Fambro&amp;#039;s light and slippery three-wheeler is way ahead of the pack: Aptera has already build at least two running prototypes of its all-electric Typ-1 e (one of which we&amp;#039;ve driven) en route to limited production this year, with a hybrid model to follow sometime after that. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;ll be up to one car per week by October in terms of pilot production.&amp;quot; says Fambro, who has his sights set on 10,000 vehicles per year by 2011. &amp;quot;We have enough right now to get into production and go from cash negative to cash positive.&amp;quot; If some of the 1700 preordered Typ-1s hit garages by the end of next year, Aptera will be just a few months behind Tesla--with plans already in motion for a four-wheeler (code name: Palomar) to compete directly with the WhiteStar. How it Works The 1500-pound Typ-1 e is an all-electric, rear-drive vehicle that uses a 10 kWh li-ion battery pack to juice the electric motor. Aptera says the car will hit 60 mph in 10 seconds and run all the way to 85 mph. Solar roof panels are designed to capture sunlight, convert it to energy and power the climate-control system at least part of the time. In addition to testing battery packs from known companies in the U.S. and one in China, Aptera has an electric motor supplier with over 14 million development miles on similar powertrains under the belt.  Bottom Line With a big first round of funding closing at the end of the month and industry veterans signed on, Aptera is now shopping for a 100,000-sq.-ft. production facility. The startup has a jig for testing door and roof crush and has been modeling front-side safety virtually, but a dynamic crash test is on tap for this summer. The biggest hurdle for the Typ-1, Fambro says, is perfecting the body&amp;#039;s gel-coat finish. After that, it&amp;#039;s a head-to-head race with Tesla to Californian homes and the X Prize purse--we give Aptera the lead by a nose. --B.S. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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