X-Prize Winner, Peraves E-Tracer to be Offered At Retail

Remember the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize -- the $10 million prize to find the next big thing in green transportation?

While the X-Prize -- not to mention many of the companies who took part -- have long been forgotten, one of the competition winners wants you to know its revolutionary two-wheeler is entering production.

Enter Swiss-based Peraves, whose all-electric E-Tracer won it $2.5 million of the $10 million prize fund.

As the folks over at Autobloggreen report, the strange fully-enclosed motorcycle will soon be available to buy.

According to company CEO Roger Riedener, the retail version of the E-Tracer -- now called the Monotracer MTE-150 -- has a powerful 150 kilowatt drive system that is not only efficient, but fast.

Range, if driven (or should that be ridden?) conservatively should easily exceed 200 miles on a single charge of the MTE-150’s 20 kilowatt-hour battery pack, while acceleration from 0-60 happens “in well under 5 seconds”.

Peraves E-Tracer, winner of Progressive Automotive X-Prize. Photo: Stefano Paris.

Fuel economy, measured in Miles-Per-Gallon Equivalent (MPGe), ranges from 350MPGe up to an astonishing 550 MPGe, depending on how quickly it is traveling.

The MTE-150’s amazing fuel economy lies in its enclosed design, which eliminates most of the drag that a traditional motorcycle suffers .

There are other benefits too. Unlike a conventional motorcycle, the MTE-150 has a full-sized car seat, 3-point seatbelt and enough storage for a small suitcase.

It even has room for a 6 foot tall passenger, who rides behind the driver.

But its motorcycle handlebars and unconventional handling characteristics mean it the MTE-150 is unlikely to be a mainstream vehicle.

There’s also no mention of cost on the official Monotracer website, which we think equates to more than we’d like to guess.

Remember the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize -- the $10 million prize to find the next big thing in green transportation?

While the X-Prize -- not to mention many of the companies who took part -- have long been forgotten, one of the competition winners wants you to know its revolutionary two-wheeler is entering production.

Enter Swiss-based Peraves, whose all-electric E-Tracer won it $2.5 million of the $10 million prize fund.

As the folks over at Autobloggreen report, the strange fully-enclosed motorcycle will soon be available to buy.

According to company CEO Roger Riedener, the retail version of the E-Tracer -- now called the Monotracer MTE-150 -- has a powerful 150 kilowatt drive system that is not only efficient, but fast.

Range, if driven (or should that be ridden?) conservatively should easily exceed 200 miles on a single charge of the MTE-150’s 20 kilowatt-hour battery pack, while acceleration from 0-60 happens “in well under 5 seconds”.

Peraves E-Tracer, winner of Progressive Automotive X-Prize. Photo: Stefano Paris.

Fuel economy, measured in Miles-Per-Gallon Equivalent (MPGe), ranges from 350MPGe up to an astonishing 550 MPGe, depending on how quickly it is traveling.

The MTE-150’s amazing fuel economy lies in its enclosed design, which eliminates most of the drag that a traditional motorcycle suffers .

There are other benefits too. Unlike a conventional motorcycle, the MTE-150 has a full-sized car seat, 3-point seatbelt and enough storage for a small suitcase.

It even has room for a 6 foot tall passenger, who rides behind the driver.

But its motorcycle handlebars and unconventional handling characteristics mean it the MTE-150 is unlikely to be a mainstream vehicle.

There’s also no mention of cost on the official Monotracer website, which we think equates to more than we’d like to guess.

Source: Green Car Reports

Excellence in Energy Efficiency Act promises $1 billion prize for 100 MPG car

Are you a U.S. automaker? Do you want a billion dollars? Have we got a deal for you! Just build 60,000 cars that get 100 miles per gallon and the government will send a truckload of cash to your office doors (or, perhaps, mail a check).

H.R. 3872 – the Excellence in Energy Efficiency Act of 2012 – was just introduced by Representative Dan Lungren (R) of California's 3rd Congressional District. If passed, the legislation would have the Secretary of Energy "establish a program to award a prize in the amount of $1,000,000,000 to the first automobile manufacturer incorporated in the United States to manufacture and sell in the United States 60,000 mid-sized sedan automobiles which operate on gasoline and can travel 100 miles per gallon."

That's right, no cheating with subcompacts toys or fancy all-electrics, it's for adult-sized gasoline burners only, baby! It's unclear whether plug-in hybrids such as the Chevy Volt or upcoming Ford Fusion Energi might be eligible, but we doubt it since OpenCongress says the subtitle is "To provide a prize to the first manufacturer of highly-efficient mid-sized automobiles powered by gasoline" and the Volt already comes in at 93 MPGe.

While established automakers couldn't be lured in by the measly $1 million offered by the Progressive X-Prize, we're sure they'd be more than happy to accept a check with the big B on it. The question this proposed law begs, though, is would they make an extra effort to achieve this sort of sky-high efficiency goal under other circumstances?



Source: Autoblog Green