The foundation that was made famous for giving away $10 million to build a reusable spacecraft has now turned its attention to the automotive space. The X Prize foundation wants to motivate groups to build a “mass-marketable” 250 mpg vehicle and be eligible for a prize pool of up to $25 million.
The guidelines for winning the prize are yet to be determined, but it’s likely there will be a clause that requires a certain number of vehicles (10,000 is the rumor) to be sold to the public. They want the winning entry to “result in real cars available for purchase, not concept cars.”
The main aim of the foundation is to further publicize the issue of global oil demand and our unsustainable use of it. They claim: "There are no mainstream consumer choices for clean, super-efficient vehicles that meet market needs for price, size, capability, image, safety and performance."
Pictured above is the winner of the original Ansari X Prize, the SpaceShipOne.
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