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Online Community
Future Cars Tech
Flying Cars
Air Cars
Electric Cars
Hybrid Cars
Hydrogen Cars
Solar cars
Future Cars Reviews
Flying Cars
Air Cars
Electric Cars
Tribrid Cars
Hybrid Cars
Hydrogen Cars
Misc.
Future Cars Articles
What is OPEC?
Peak Oil Overview
Cars: Past and Present
Future Fuels
Electricity
Solar Energy
Biodiesel
Bioethanol
Hydrogen
Liquid Petroleum Gas
Methanol
Natural Gas
Biobutanol
Biogas
HDRD
ULSD
DMF
DME
Synthetic Fuels
Considerations
Fuel Comparison
Future Cars Interview with Cristin Lindsay
Senior Director, Automotive X-Prize
by Ross Bonander, Contributing Writer
The mission of the X-Prize Foundation is as simple as it is revolutionary, as ambitious as it is audacious: “To bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.” Put another way, the Foundation establishes competitions with multi-million dollar purses in a number of fields, all in an effort to stimulate innovators to “solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.”
It first came to public attention in 2004 with the awarding of the $10 million Ansari X-Prize to Mojave Aerospace Ventures for the flight of SpaceShipOne. Since then other X-Prizes have been added, including the Automotive X-Prize (AXP), the goal of which is to “stimulate automotive technology, manufacturing and marketing breakthroughs” that result in reduced oil consumption and harmful emissions, and lead to “a new generation of super-efficient and desirable mainstream vehicles that people want to buy.”
Recently FutureCars.com had the exclusive opportunity to put some questions to Cristin Lindsay, Senior Director of the Automotive X-Prize:
FutureCars.com: In your December speech at the EVS 23 you said the official launch of the AXP and announcement of the total purse would occur "in early 2008, likely at a major auto show." Can you give us any idea how far off this might be?
Cristin Lindsay: We still plan to formally announce the Automotive X PRIZE competition and the initial amount of the prize purse early this year and still plan to do so at a major auto show. Expect more details soon!
FutureCars.com: So many people believe that the fuel of the future is hydrogen. Why then is it not among approved fuels for the AXP?
Cristin Lindsay: We have stated that we will revise the description of permitted fuels in our guidelines to not include a list of likely supported fuels. Rather, we will emphasize that acceptance into the Automotive X PRIZE will require that a vehicle would be supported by the infrastructure that is available today or likely by approximately 2010. Thus the fuels supported by and provided by the Automotive X PRIZE will depend on the vehicles that are admitted to the Qualifying Race.
In particular, the fuel must be readily available to the public (as defined and justified in the team business plan). In the case of electricity, for example, this means readily-available plug types and circuit capacities. In the case of hydrogen, teams may have a difficult time proving that the infrastructure to support a market of 10,000 or more hydrogen vehicles per year will exist in 2010.
Perhaps a team will come forward with a viable plan for a local- or home-based hydrogen reforming unit that is when paired with a fuel cell vehicle is affordable, legal, and easily manufacturable. We will not rule out hydrogen at this point, but hydrogen is one fuel that will be seriously challenged by our requirement for fit within today's fuel infrastructure.
FutureCars.com: The revised AXP draft guidelines came out on October 24th. When can we expect the final guidelines to be published?
Cristin Lindsay: In October, we released a document that summarizes the areas of our draft guidelines (originally released in April of 2007) that we plan to revise or expand. We are currently working with our advisors through a series of working groups on each of those topics to get closer to final rules. We will be releasing those final rules and a master team agreement in the first half of 2008.
FutureCars.com: Over 50 teams have signed letters of intent, but none yet from a major car maker. GM's VP Bob Lutz went as far as to refer to it as "a science-fair project" outside of their interests. Exactly how important is it -- if at all -- to see entries from big manufacturers?
Cristin Lindsay: The goal of Automotive X PRIZE is to introduce a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles. We're looking for real cars that people want to buy, not science projects or concept cars. Large auto manufacturers continue to consider entry into the Automotive X PRIZE and we would welcome them into the competition. When the prize is formally launched early this year and we announce our final rules and open official team registration, we will see at that point which brave auto manufacturers step forward to compete.
Regardless of whether our teams include major auto manufacturers, all teams will have to pass through a four-part qualification process proving the production capability of their vehicle. We will work with industry experts to review the cost, safety, and features of the vehicle as well as the business plan of the team. In the business plan review, teams will have to prove that they have the funding, relationships and expertise required to produce vehicles in quantities of 10,000 or more per year. Vehicles will also have to fit within today's fuel and energy infrastructure.
While we do not require that vehicles are in production at the time the prize is awarded, we will ensure that they are production-capable. We are excited to see the results of the competition in 2010 and the years immediately following the awarding of the Automotive X PRIZE as these vehicles are brought to market.
FutureCars.com: Has the Foundation entered any discussions with governments regarding potential fleet sales for vehicles that meet AXP requirements?
Cristin Lindsay: We have had early discussions about fleet sales with U.S. federal agencies, a few state governments and various city municipalities. We want to make entry into the Automotive X PRIZE as attractive as possible for teams. Potential fleet sales are certainly one way to increase the potential reward for our teams. We will not finalize any such agreements around future fleet sales until our rules and vehicle specifications are final. We also know that cities and states have significant interest in attracting future vehicle development to their region, so we are looking into the potential for cities or states to offer incentives to Automotive X PRIZE teams based on where teams locate their operations.
FutureCars.com: It's clear every effort is being made to make this contest completely air-tight and as free from as much potential controversy as possible. Will there be any recourse for teams who feel they have a valid complaint?
Cristin Lindsay: Yes, as is the case with all X PRIZEs, we think it is critical that our rules and prize administration be as objective, credible and trustworthy as possible. To that end, we are working with the world's experts on the automotive industry, alternative fuels, and climate change to set the final rules of the competition and to assist the X PRIZE Foundation in the qualification and judging of vehicles and teams. To ensure fairness and equality for all teams, we will form and use diverse panels of expert individuals and organizations to assist with potentially contentious aspects of the competition. Our goal is to stimulate innovation while requiring practicality. In general, our decisions will lean in favor of accepting reasonable arguments from competing teams. However, in all cases the judgment of the AXP prize administrators will be final. Major decisions will include an appeal mechanism.
FutureCars.com: One of your stated goals for the Detroit Auto Show was to find Host cities for the race in 2010. Can you tell us what cities expressed interest and which may end up as hosts?
Cristin Lindsay: We have only recently begun our search for Host Cities. We are confident that many major U.S. cities will compete for one of the Host City slots. In fact, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco recently wrote to us that "in light of San Francisco's commitment to fuel-efficiency and sustainable transportation, please know that I intend for San Francisco to participate in the RFP process and compete to win one of the Host City positions." In addition to San Francisco, we have had many promising initial conversations with cities across the U.S. and feel confident that we will have an exciting and varied course set for our 2009-2010 race series.
FutureCars.com: Short of active recruitment, would there be any effort made on the part of the AXP to convince a certain individual in possession of an innovative technology to sign up?
Cristin Lindsay: The Automotive X PRIZE is deeply interested in having innovative, diverse and qualified teams come forward to compete in the prize. As we head towards the formal launch of the prize and the opening of team registration, we will increase our efforts to recruit potential teams.
There is a lot of exciting innovation and progress happening around the world related to efficient vehicles. We watch the industry closely for announcements and coverage of people and organizations around the world that are qualified to enter the Automotive X PRIZE, and reach out to potential teams frequently to describe the benefits of entry. As our Letter of Intent program comes to a close this year and we open official team registration, we will be working on additional benefits and programs to attract teams, including relationships with companies such as automotive suppliers that could provide access to technology and services to teams. We plan to hold online and in-person networking and educational events between teams, suppliers, service providers, and even potential investors to help attract teams and facilitate vehicle development.
FutureCars.com: The Mission Statement for the X-Prize “To bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity”, is audaciously simple and impossible to misinterpret: It aims for nothing short of changing the world, everyone’s world, for the better. This brand of idealism is hardly new to history; nor is it new to defeat. What sets the X-Prize apart from, say not just the empty sloganeering of the 1960s but even from successful ventures like the Orteig Prize?
Cristin Lindsay: Prizes are a proven instrument for innovation particularly where the path to a solution is unclear. They are most effective where progress is blocked and where market forces, government, and traditional non-profits cannot readily solve a problem. Prizes motivate entrepreneurs and other innovative thinkers to be creative about complex problems and to achieve breakthroughs. With the success of the Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight won in 2004 by Burt Rutan and Microsoft founder Paul Allen, and with the announcements of the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics and the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the X PRIZE Foundation is a non-profit prize institute that excels at conceiving, designing and managing public competitions for the benefit of humanity. The X PRIZE Foundation is a leader in harnessing the power of private enterprise to create social benefits.
While there are thousands of prizes awarded annually, most are retrospective in nature, acknowledging achievements in a certain field without specifying ahead of time what the achievement will be. There are also idea contests like Richard Branson's Virgin Earth Challenge and the Gotham Cancer Prize which reward promising ideas submitted to a panel of experts for judging. The X PRIZE Foundation is different in that it aggressively and proactively researches sectors that need breakthroughs, identifies an effective goal for a prize in those sectors, and administers high-profile public competitions for teams that attempt to achieve that goal.
We already see the positive impact of the Automotive X PRIZE on today's automotive industry, and we look forward with great excitement to seeing the full results and impact of the Automotive X PRIZE in the months and years following the awarding of the prize in 2010.
Senior Director, Automotive X-Prize
by Ross Bonander, Contributing Writer
The mission of the X-Prize Foundation is as simple as it is revolutionary, as ambitious as it is audacious: “To bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.” Put another way, the Foundation establishes competitions with multi-million dollar purses in a number of fields, all in an effort to stimulate innovators to “solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.”
It first came to public attention in 2004 with the awarding of the $10 million Ansari X-Prize to Mojave Aerospace Ventures for the flight of SpaceShipOne. Since then other X-Prizes have been added, including the Automotive X-Prize (AXP), the goal of which is to “stimulate automotive technology, manufacturing and marketing breakthroughs” that result in reduced oil consumption and harmful emissions, and lead to “a new generation of super-efficient and desirable mainstream vehicles that people want to buy.”
Recently FutureCars.com had the exclusive opportunity to put some questions to Cristin Lindsay, Senior Director of the Automotive X-Prize:
FutureCars.com: In your December speech at the EVS 23 you said the official launch of the AXP and announcement of the total purse would occur "in early 2008, likely at a major auto show." Can you give us any idea how far off this might be?
Cristin Lindsay: We still plan to formally announce the Automotive X PRIZE competition and the initial amount of the prize purse early this year and still plan to do so at a major auto show. Expect more details soon!
FutureCars.com: So many people believe that the fuel of the future is hydrogen. Why then is it not among approved fuels for the AXP?
Cristin Lindsay: We have stated that we will revise the description of permitted fuels in our guidelines to not include a list of likely supported fuels. Rather, we will emphasize that acceptance into the Automotive X PRIZE will require that a vehicle would be supported by the infrastructure that is available today or likely by approximately 2010. Thus the fuels supported by and provided by the Automotive X PRIZE will depend on the vehicles that are admitted to the Qualifying Race.
In particular, the fuel must be readily available to the public (as defined and justified in the team business plan). In the case of electricity, for example, this means readily-available plug types and circuit capacities. In the case of hydrogen, teams may have a difficult time proving that the infrastructure to support a market of 10,000 or more hydrogen vehicles per year will exist in 2010.
Perhaps a team will come forward with a viable plan for a local- or home-based hydrogen reforming unit that is when paired with a fuel cell vehicle is affordable, legal, and easily manufacturable. We will not rule out hydrogen at this point, but hydrogen is one fuel that will be seriously challenged by our requirement for fit within today's fuel infrastructure.
FutureCars.com: The revised AXP draft guidelines came out on October 24th. When can we expect the final guidelines to be published?
Cristin Lindsay: In October, we released a document that summarizes the areas of our draft guidelines (originally released in April of 2007) that we plan to revise or expand. We are currently working with our advisors through a series of working groups on each of those topics to get closer to final rules. We will be releasing those final rules and a master team agreement in the first half of 2008.
FutureCars.com: Over 50 teams have signed letters of intent, but none yet from a major car maker. GM's VP Bob Lutz went as far as to refer to it as "a science-fair project" outside of their interests. Exactly how important is it -- if at all -- to see entries from big manufacturers?
Cristin Lindsay: The goal of Automotive X PRIZE is to introduce a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles. We're looking for real cars that people want to buy, not science projects or concept cars. Large auto manufacturers continue to consider entry into the Automotive X PRIZE and we would welcome them into the competition. When the prize is formally launched early this year and we announce our final rules and open official team registration, we will see at that point which brave auto manufacturers step forward to compete.
Regardless of whether our teams include major auto manufacturers, all teams will have to pass through a four-part qualification process proving the production capability of their vehicle. We will work with industry experts to review the cost, safety, and features of the vehicle as well as the business plan of the team. In the business plan review, teams will have to prove that they have the funding, relationships and expertise required to produce vehicles in quantities of 10,000 or more per year. Vehicles will also have to fit within today's fuel and energy infrastructure.
While we do not require that vehicles are in production at the time the prize is awarded, we will ensure that they are production-capable. We are excited to see the results of the competition in 2010 and the years immediately following the awarding of the Automotive X PRIZE as these vehicles are brought to market.
FutureCars.com: Has the Foundation entered any discussions with governments regarding potential fleet sales for vehicles that meet AXP requirements?
Cristin Lindsay: We have had early discussions about fleet sales with U.S. federal agencies, a few state governments and various city municipalities. We want to make entry into the Automotive X PRIZE as attractive as possible for teams. Potential fleet sales are certainly one way to increase the potential reward for our teams. We will not finalize any such agreements around future fleet sales until our rules and vehicle specifications are final. We also know that cities and states have significant interest in attracting future vehicle development to their region, so we are looking into the potential for cities or states to offer incentives to Automotive X PRIZE teams based on where teams locate their operations.
FutureCars.com: It's clear every effort is being made to make this contest completely air-tight and as free from as much potential controversy as possible. Will there be any recourse for teams who feel they have a valid complaint?
Cristin Lindsay: Yes, as is the case with all X PRIZEs, we think it is critical that our rules and prize administration be as objective, credible and trustworthy as possible. To that end, we are working with the world's experts on the automotive industry, alternative fuels, and climate change to set the final rules of the competition and to assist the X PRIZE Foundation in the qualification and judging of vehicles and teams. To ensure fairness and equality for all teams, we will form and use diverse panels of expert individuals and organizations to assist with potentially contentious aspects of the competition. Our goal is to stimulate innovation while requiring practicality. In general, our decisions will lean in favor of accepting reasonable arguments from competing teams. However, in all cases the judgment of the AXP prize administrators will be final. Major decisions will include an appeal mechanism.
FutureCars.com: One of your stated goals for the Detroit Auto Show was to find Host cities for the race in 2010. Can you tell us what cities expressed interest and which may end up as hosts?
Cristin Lindsay: We have only recently begun our search for Host Cities. We are confident that many major U.S. cities will compete for one of the Host City slots. In fact, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco recently wrote to us that "in light of San Francisco's commitment to fuel-efficiency and sustainable transportation, please know that I intend for San Francisco to participate in the RFP process and compete to win one of the Host City positions." In addition to San Francisco, we have had many promising initial conversations with cities across the U.S. and feel confident that we will have an exciting and varied course set for our 2009-2010 race series.
FutureCars.com: Short of active recruitment, would there be any effort made on the part of the AXP to convince a certain individual in possession of an innovative technology to sign up?
Cristin Lindsay: The Automotive X PRIZE is deeply interested in having innovative, diverse and qualified teams come forward to compete in the prize. As we head towards the formal launch of the prize and the opening of team registration, we will increase our efforts to recruit potential teams.
There is a lot of exciting innovation and progress happening around the world related to efficient vehicles. We watch the industry closely for announcements and coverage of people and organizations around the world that are qualified to enter the Automotive X PRIZE, and reach out to potential teams frequently to describe the benefits of entry. As our Letter of Intent program comes to a close this year and we open official team registration, we will be working on additional benefits and programs to attract teams, including relationships with companies such as automotive suppliers that could provide access to technology and services to teams. We plan to hold online and in-person networking and educational events between teams, suppliers, service providers, and even potential investors to help attract teams and facilitate vehicle development.
FutureCars.com: The Mission Statement for the X-Prize “To bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity”, is audaciously simple and impossible to misinterpret: It aims for nothing short of changing the world, everyone’s world, for the better. This brand of idealism is hardly new to history; nor is it new to defeat. What sets the X-Prize apart from, say not just the empty sloganeering of the 1960s but even from successful ventures like the Orteig Prize?
Cristin Lindsay: Prizes are a proven instrument for innovation particularly where the path to a solution is unclear. They are most effective where progress is blocked and where market forces, government, and traditional non-profits cannot readily solve a problem. Prizes motivate entrepreneurs and other innovative thinkers to be creative about complex problems and to achieve breakthroughs. With the success of the Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight won in 2004 by Burt Rutan and Microsoft founder Paul Allen, and with the announcements of the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics and the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the X PRIZE Foundation is a non-profit prize institute that excels at conceiving, designing and managing public competitions for the benefit of humanity. The X PRIZE Foundation is a leader in harnessing the power of private enterprise to create social benefits.
While there are thousands of prizes awarded annually, most are retrospective in nature, acknowledging achievements in a certain field without specifying ahead of time what the achievement will be. There are also idea contests like Richard Branson's Virgin Earth Challenge and the Gotham Cancer Prize which reward promising ideas submitted to a panel of experts for judging. The X PRIZE Foundation is different in that it aggressively and proactively researches sectors that need breakthroughs, identifies an effective goal for a prize in those sectors, and administers high-profile public competitions for teams that attempt to achieve that goal.
We already see the positive impact of the Automotive X PRIZE on today's automotive industry, and we look forward with great excitement to seeing the full results and impact of the Automotive X PRIZE in the months and years following the awarding of the prize in 2010.
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