The Automotive X Prize

The folks who held a competition for the first non-governmental human space flight ever are up to their old tricks again. This time they're offering a cash prize for automobile design:

Goals of the Prize
Our goal is to stimulate automotive technology, manufacturing and marketing breakthroughs that:

* Radically reduce oil consumption and harmful emissions
* Result in a new generation of super-efficient and desirable mainstream vehicles that people want to buy

How it will work
The rules are being shaped by our philosophy that the Automotive X PRIZE must:

* Achieve our main goals (above)
* Be simple to understand and easy to communicate
* Benefit the world - this is a global challenge
* Result in real cars available for purchase, not concept cars
* Remain independent, fair, non-partisan, and technology-neutral
* Provide clear technical boundaries (i.e., for fuel-efficiency, emissions, safety, manufacturability, performance, capacity, etc.)
* Offer a "level playing field" that attracts both existing automobile manufacturers and newcomers
* Attract a balanced array of private investment, donors, sponsors, and partners to help competitors succeed (e.g., manufacturing assistance, testing resources, etc.)
* Make heroes out of the competitors and winner(s) through unprecedented exposure, media coverage and a significant cash award
* Educate the public on key issues

And like all good online communicators, they've got a Blog too. Be sure to stop by and say hello.

Thanks to Instapundit for the pointers.

Technorati tags: Energy, Technology, Environment, Oil, Gasoline, Autos, Cars, X Prize