DOE Gives Ansari X-Prize Up To $5.5 Million

The X PRIZE Foundation, a world leader in conducting incentive-based competitions to stimulate innovation, announced it will receive up to $5.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

As part of the Automotive X PRIZE competition, teams design innovative, commercially-viable, high-efficiency vehicles that could potentially help break dependence on oil and stem the effects of climate change.

The funding builds on a DOE partnership with the X PRIZE Foundation that began in 2008. The funding will provide technical assistance and expand national education and outreach efforts for the competition. The award also supports President Obama's Strategy for American Innovation, which calls on federal agencies to increase their use of prizes as a tool for promoting technological advances.

The Department of Energy will provide technical expertise to ensure that each of the competition designs is reviewed correctly and consistently. Specific tasks included within this DOE award include:

• Vehicle Telemetry Procurement, Installation and Integration: This award will specifically assist in procuring, installing, and integrating telemetry equipment into Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition vehicles.  This task will also establish a real-time data transmission network that will provide an interactive online experience for internet users to follow the competition vehicles as they perform during the competition series.

• Pre-Competition Series Safety and Technical Assistance: The award will also provide qualified vehicles with an array of expert consulting, vehicle safety inspections, and fuel economy and emissions vehicle testing appropriate to their design and level of development. Vehicle design consulting will be provided to select teams by personnel with expertise specific and relevant to their design and will include review and discussion of vehicle limitations and deficiencies as well as prospective corrective actions.

• Design and Implement Technical Competition Components: The DOE will provide support for additional technical staff to design, implement, and manage the competition events. Seven members of the technical team, each experienced automotive experts, were announced recently. Details are available at the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE website.

"Our clean energy future depends on our ability to design and commercialize new highly-efficient vehicles that are cost-effective for consumers and use significantly less energy," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "This funding will support cutting-edge, American innovation that can help us fundamentally transform personal transportation and address the global climate crisis."

Image courtesy of X PRIZE