E-Tracer Ltd.

Lewis & Clark (the two guys who where sent off by Jefferson to explore the West) aka Frankie and me have more or less made the two X-Tracers race-ready during the last 4 days and we couldn’t have done it without the immense help of all the guys at National Cycle in Chicago. Special Thanks go to Doug Manternach who hooked us up with all his specialists at the impressive factory, and they carried out every job perfectly and before we knew it, the parts and pieces came flying into our airconditioned (!!!) fully equipped workshop. Unbelievable service! Muchas gracias amigos! Now we’ll also have to carry the mexican flag…;-)

Doug and his team also took care of all our needs such as rent a car, make reservations for a tow truck, order lunch, point out excellent restaurants for diner (Wildfire Steak House, first choice!)

So today saw the arrival of our Ford F-350 Crew Cab with V-8 Diesel. It’s a little weird to have to tow two X-Tracers that can get over 300 mpge with one of these behemoths that get a mere 11 mpg, but to be fair it seats 6, could carry a Smart on the back and the trailer could hold 4 E-Tracers. The whole road train weights about 7 tons and moves at 70 mph. Swiss police would ban it from the road immediately because the trailer has no brakes…

Today, the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, a $10 million competition to inspire a new generation of viable super-efficient vehicles capable of achieving 100 MPGe (miles per gallon or its energy equivalent), announced 22 teams representing 27 vehicles survived Shakedown – the first of three on-track testing stages – and will now move on to the Knockout Qualifying Stage to be held June 20-30 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Twenty-eight teams, representing 36 vehicles from across the globe were invited to MIS to officially start on-track performance testing as part of the Shakedown competition stage on April 26.  Of the 28 teams that were invited, 24 participated in the Shakedown Stage.

Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competitor vehicles were put to the test during a variety of efficiency, safety, and performance evaluations conducted by competition judges, including automotive engineers from Consumer Reports. Tests included rigorous technical inspections and on-track safety tests, including zero-to-sixty acceleration and braking tests, an emergency double lane change avoidance maneuver, and durability requirements. Of the 24 participants, 22 will return for the pivotal Knockout Stage, the second of three on-track stages and the first scored competition stage. Teams must demonstrate that their vehicles can meet or beat a 67 MPGe fuel efficiency target – two-thirds of the final MPGe requirement – to qualify for the Finals Stage where they will compete to win a portion of the $10 million prize purse.

“These Shakedown tests rightly set a very high standard of safety and performance,” said Eric Cahill, Senior Director, Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. “This was not meant to be easy; if it were, it would have already been done. We expect to see additional eliminations during the Knockout Stage as we narrow the field in preparation for the Finals Stage in late July.”

Established automakers, start-ups, universities, inventors, and even a high school are among the diverse groups of teams that will enter the Knockout Stage, the gateway to the grand prize. The following is a complete list of the 22 teams, along with the class in which they will compete and their fuel type.

Mainstream Class Teams:
Mainstream Class vehicles must carry four or more passengers, have four or more wheels, and offer a 200-mile range.

American HyPower, Centennial, Colorado (Gasoline, Hydrogen)
BITW Technologies, Palmyra, Indiana (Biodiesel)
Cornell 100+ MPG Team, Ithaca, New York (Biodiesel)*
Edison2, Charlottesville, Virginia (E85)
Enginer, Troy, Michigan (Gasoline + Steam)**
Global-E, Mandeville, Louisiana (Gasoline & Electric)**
Illuminati Motor Works, Virden, Illinois (Electric)*
Liberty Motors Group, Botkins, Ohio (Gasoline)
West Philly Hybrid X (EVX), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Gasoline)

Alternative Class Teams:
Alternative Class vehicles must carry two or more passengers and allow for a 100 mile range.

Side-by-Side Seating
amp, Blue Ash, Ohio (Electric)
Aptera Motors, Vista, California (Electric)
Tata Motors Limited, Coventry, United Kingdom (Electric)
Edison2, Charlottesville, Virginia (E85)
OptaMotive, San Jose, California (Electric)
RaceAbout Association, Helsinki, Finland (Electric)
Team EVI, Mooresville, North Carolina (Electric)*
Team EVX, Dallas, Texas (Electric)
West Philly Hybrid X (EVX), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Biodiesel)
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington (Gasoline)**
ZAP, Santa Rosa, California (Electric)

Tandem Seating
Edison2, Charlottesville, Virginia (E85)
FVT Racing, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada (Gasoline)*
Spira, Banglamung, Chonburi, Thailand (Gasoline)
Tango (Commuter Cars), Spokane, Washington (Electric)
X-Tracer Team Switzerland, Uster, Switzerland (Electric)

NOTE: Teams marked with a single asterisk (*) received a “conditional” pass during the Shakedown Stage. This means the team’s vehicle passed technical inspection but did not successfully complete at least one on-track safety test or did not complete all mandatory events. These vehicles will only be allowed to enter the Knockout Stage if they successfully pass Technical Inspection and complete durability requirements.

Teams marked with a double asterisk (**) received a “probationary” pass, which indicates their vehicle did not successfully complete at least one component of technical inspection and thus were not allowed to continue to on-track safety tests during the Shakedown Stage and hence faced elimination. These teams demonstrated running vehicles that met the established guidelines of the competition. The vehicles will be re-inspected and must complete the mandatory portion of the on-track safety events before being allowed to continue in the competition.

Two teams – TW4XP (Germany) and K-Way MOTUS (Italy) – will complete the Shakedown Stage June 16-18, as both teams were unable to participate in the regularly scheduled events due to travel restrictions in Europe resulting from the Iceland volcano eruption. Both teams will be required to pass the technical inspection and mandatory driving events before moving on to the Knockout Stage.

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)