We all got back on LX09 Swiss from ORD to ZRH yesterday afternoon, and needed a good night’s sleep…the week at MIS was pretty tough, even without having to fix anything major on the two E-Tracers. I can only imagine what amount of rest some of the teams need that were constantly forced to work on their vehicles.
Time for a quick résumé, then: The X-Tracer Team Switzerland has nicely achieved its goals for the Shakedown Event. We can concentrate now on the few minor “stains” the summary of the technical inspection has left on our otherwise pretty much clean shirt, while some of the contestants will have a serious load of work to do before arriving at MIS again for the Knockout event on 20th of June.
The general impression we left due to craftmanship, innovation, performance, fit & finish, ready-for-production-status were mostly regarded as very high, and, as some observers put it, “in another league”.
For me personally, there is no doubt: The E-Tracer is the world’s most efficient high-performance 2-seater. It is truly “alternative” compared to some of the more of less traditional car conversions which also compete in the “Alternative Class” at the X-Prize. And it is certainly not enough to put a pair of rearview-cameras instead of the mirrors on a car to achieve 100 mpg. In my opinion the most advanced mainstream contender, the Edison 2 VLC, has achieved 85 mpg at shakedown. I am still taking bets that none of the mainstreamers will achieve the 100 mpg at all. You can do that in one of those manufacturer-friendly cycles like the NEFZ (which is a joke), but certainly not at the average speed required at the X-Prize. Maybe they will teach me better in June! -Roger
Verrrry cool Team X-Tracer Switzerland! (from left to right: Peter, Felix, Jim, Fredi, Roger, Justin)
