Start your engines! 28 teams representing 36 super fuel efficient vehicles from across the globe will officially start on-track performance testing at Michigan International Speedway today, marking the beginning of Shakedown – the first of three stages of testing for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. Each of these stages evaluates the efficiency, safety, and performance of the vehicles under real-world conditions. The goal? To exceed 100MPGe (miles per gallon or equivalent.)
Shakedown will not be scored, and will instead be a round of safety checks and inspections, followed by a round of on-track challenges to give the teams a chance to test their vehicles and help them get ready for the Knockout Qualifying stage that will follow.
The teams are geared up and ready to go, and have been raising the hoods on their cars for technical inspections in the garage all morning. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be on the front lines of the next generation in automotive technology, check out the media below. This is the future of our cars.
The official X PRIZE Creative Services video of the first 4 teams going through the Technical Inspection.
West Philly Hybrid X Team
Edison2 in the Teams Garage
Check out some of the press Shakedown is getting:
Make sure to stay tuned with us for the rest of Shakedown, including live blogging from the X PRIZE team on Thursday April 29th!
For more updates, photos, videos, and more, check out our website and make sure to hit us up on Twitter and Facebook!
If this is the next generation in automotive technology, it's impressive.
Posted by: Car Finder | April 29, 2010 at 06:48 PM