Progressive said it is expanding its prize for fuel and emission efficient vehicles to established auto manufacturers to "inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles," the company said.
Mayfield Village, Ohio-based auto insurer Progressive Insurance Automotive said its "X PRIZE," a multimillion-dollar competition designed to influence a new generation of fuel-efficient vehicles, has created a new category, the Demonstration Division for large, established automobile manufacturers.
"We believe that this new division provides an ideal platform for major automakers in the United States and European Union to promote their latest fuel-efficient vehicles, and we hope this announcement sparks new entries into the competition," said Peter Diamandis, president and chief executive officer of the "X PRIZE" foundation.
The Demonstration Division is intended to showcase high-efficiency vehicles from established automakers that are already selling fully validated, four-wheel vehicles in the United States or European Union at quantities greater than 10,000 per year and have been doing so since 2005.
The companies may enter efficient, mainstream class vehicles that are either in production or committed for production and sale in the United States or European Union prior to the end of 2012.
The new division was created to address the fact that actual, high-volume production vehicles involve more and substantially harder engineering challenges and tradeoffs than developmental vehicles that are production-capable.
There is no prize purse in the Demonstration Division, although participating companies are also welcome to enter the Competition Division. In that division, $10 million will be awarded to the winner of a cross country stage race to be held this year into next. The vehicles in the competition must get more than 100 mpg, meet strict emission requirements and have the best time.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.