Progressive Automotive X-Prize runner-up car gets 207.5 MPGe

(PhysOrg.com) -- After coming in second to team Edison2 in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize competition last summer, team Illuminati, makers of the car named "Seven" have demonstrated that their vehicle is capable of achieving 207.5 Miles per Gallon equivalent (MPGe), (88.2 Kilometers per Liter) a designation created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give consumers a means of comparing mileage efficiency of all-electric vehicles or hybrids to one another and those still running on gasoline power.

After falling out of the running in last summer’s competition (whose purpose was to incite ingenuity in the design of highly efficient vehicles) due to a clutch problem, the Illuminati team has continued to work on their vehicle, and was recently invited by Progressive Automotive X-Prize committee members and the U.S. Department of Energy to test their car at Chrysler’s, Chelsea proving grounds in Michigan. It was there on that track last month that Seven demonstrated it’s impressive efficiency. In comparison, the Edison2 Very Light Car, winner of the competition last summer achieved just 102.5 MPGe; also, it might be noted that the Nissan Leaf, now commercially available, gets just 99 MPGe.

The Illuminati team (whose name is a perhaps tongue-in-cheek reference to the conspiracy theorist group who claim everything in the world is run by a group of secret leaders) an all American volunteer group, set out to prove that the vehicles produced by the big name automakers were not nearly as efficient as they could be, for whatever reason; and they appear to have backed up their claim. The Seven isn’t just a demo vehicle; it’s street legal and also features such niceties as air conditioning and a stereo. It’s also rather odd looking, resembling a Porsche Panamera, complete with gull wings and teardrop shaped fenders. It can go from 0-60 mph (26.82 m/s) in eight seconds, has a range of 200 miles (322 kilometers) and can reach speeds up to 130 miles (209 kilometers) per hour.

MPGe is the calculated average distance traveled per unit of energy, and is based on a formula that equates 33.7 kilowatt hours of electricity to one U.S. gallon of gasoline. In the United States, all-electric and hybrid vehicles for sale must have a sticker that shows MPGe, before they can be sold.

It’s doubtful the Seven will ever show up for sale on car lots, but it does appear that team Illuminati has achieved its goal of shedding light on the fact that much higher efficiency in automotive vehicles can be achieved, if we the consumer are willing to open are minds to the possibility of buying cars where mileage is more important than style or good looks and then demand as much from those that sell them to us.

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