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100 mpg car could be worth $10 million

The State Journal Register -- VIRDEN — In a converted barn between Divernon and Virden, five Springfield-area men are working evenings and weekends in a quest to be the first in the world to produce a practical, marketable car that gets 100 miles to the gallon — and win the $10 million Automotive X Prize.

The team of friends who call themselves Illuminati Motor Works says it’s serious about the competition, and, collectively, they have a credible resume, with expertise in engineering, auto technology, business management and graphic arts.

“We have about a year left before the competition,” said team captain Kevin Smith of rural Virden.


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Submitted Mar 17, 2008 By: JT
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Author Topic: 100 mpg car could be worth $10 million Topic is locked Back to Topics
REPLIES (newest first)
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YLHandyman Car icon
Champion Author Orange County

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:30:37 PM

Who judges what is practical and marketable?
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Veteran Author Indianapolis

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 3:07:39 PM

As I stated, Won't ever happen...
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Rookie Author Milwaukee

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 2:51:00 PM

This is wonderful news!!! Something to get people thinking again!!! Our country has invented some of the most wonderful products (like the personal computer, telephone and light bulbs), so I know we've got the intelligence. This contest is helping to provide the incentive, and hopefully, we can all enjoy the results. I hope there's a hundred entries, so we can have a model choice when the time comes.
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Rookie Author Tennessee

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 2:22:51 PM

At least it's a start
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Champion Author New Hampshire

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 1:58:03 PM

Problem: It will still take gasoline and we will still be dependent on oil.
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Champion Author Florida

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 12:49:58 PM

Would be great if we actually see them.
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Champion Author Arkansas

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 12:09:01 PM

I'm confident that it can be built but it will not be what the American public will buy!
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Champion Author Tampa

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 12:06:04 PM

can't wait until its on the market
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Veteran Author Las Vegas

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:55:35 AM

Lets hope it works
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Champion Author Los Angeles

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:53:15 AM

hope it can work
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Sophomore Author Virginia

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:48:23 AM

I hope they can pull it off. Good luck guys.
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Champion Author Seattle

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:45:37 AM

Best of luck to y'all.
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Veteran Author New York

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:45:32 AM

Swell.
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Champion Author New Mexico

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:44:36 AM

Great!
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Champion Author Houston

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:44:14 AM

I wish them the best of luck, as I know I would like one.
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All-Star Author Columbus

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:44:13 AM

Hey cabdriver, what do you do when the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow? Nuclear is the real answer. The French figured that out a long time ago and a making a huge profit from it.
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Champion Author Stockton

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:41:10 AM

I like "gasie1" post!! : )
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Champion Author Detroit

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:40:31 AM

We don't have the power infrastructure either. Remember the big multistate blackout in the northeast a couple years ago? We have the same power grid we had then. What do you think the additional load of having a car charging in every garage would do to it?

[Edited by: weenerdog at 3/18/2008 10:41:08 AM EST]
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Champion Author Pennsylvania

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:37:18 AM

The french "air car" wont pass fed crash standards.
we need to change the infrastructure of electric,
right now most of it comes from burning coal.
otherwise the electric car will just shift polution
from gas to coal.
we need new solar infrastructure, with wind farms.
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Champion Author Los Angeles

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:35:03 AM

The key is weight reduction. But then again, how do we keep up with all those weighty "safety improvements" that DOT and NHTSA require cars to have? They certainly don't help in the weight reduction department? So we've now legislated that our automakers perform a balancing act.
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Champion Author Toronto

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:34:03 AM

Some of us could could go back to the horse and buggy. Then we could start a web-site to track the price of corn & horse feed.
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Champion Author Houston

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:33:11 AM

Go get em' boys . . .
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Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:32:10 AM

The oil companies will make that dissappear!
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Champion Author Maine

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:31:33 AM

And that would be nice and you could buy it at Walmart.
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Veteran Author Utah

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:30:26 AM

There is no way the oil companies will allow that to happen.
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Champion Author Riverside

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:29:22 AM

I am hoping the little MDI six-seater shows up soon... runs on compressed air - takes about $2 of electricity to fill the air tank for 125 miles, and the add-on engine can keep the tank filled for about 600 miles at over 100 mpg... coming soon to the US
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Champion Author Michigan

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:24:33 AM

By the time this is dominant in the market we will need 1000 mpg cars because there will be so little left.
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All-Star Author Baltimore

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:24:31 AM

GO FOR IT JUST MAKE IT AFFORDABLE SO THE LITTLE GUY CAN BUY ONE
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Veteran Author Houston

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:22:51 AM

Yeah now a 100 MPG truck would be nice. Hell i would trade in my truck for one that would get 30MPG. Guaranteed sales.
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Champion Author Arkansas

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:21:56 AM

I wonder how long it will be before the developers are bought out by big oil.
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Champion Author Phoenix

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:21:46 AM

We can continue to wait for a miracle. We can continue to wait for inexpensive vehicle that provide fantastic fuel mileage, or we can whine about the problem of the high cost of fuel, or we can say what someone else should do about the problem, or we can do something about it. Yes, you and I, that is each one of us can do something about the problem ourselves. You and I, that is we together, can solve this problem. Read on.

bluebird1 is right when saying, "we all need to do things to alleviate the problem but no one individual is going to solve it." However, if each of us comes up with something that that person can do to help solve the problem him/herself, implements it, and shares it with others, we can together solve the problem. This concept is directly related to lines in a Revolutionary War song, "Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing fall!"

I also like one of my father's sayings, "Talk is cheap, action is what counts." What will I do? I will conserve to lower the demand. I will reduce or eliminate to the best of my ability my purchases of imported products, particularly products from any country that exports more to us than we export to them, to help increase the value of the dollar. What, other than call others to action or whine about the problem, will you do?
The articles are about high fuel prices and anyone concerned about high fuel prices should read and implement its ideas. I am.

I can only dream that all comments which do not provide solutions which their author is willing to implement, could be automatically deleted. Blaming the government, the greedy oil industry, etc., or saying what someone else could do, is not productive. What is each of us doing to solve the problem for ourselves. Spread that around and more of us can exchange and implement each other's ideas and all can benefit. Just whining is stupid!

To: fortwodriver, who said: "How can you not buy chinese... All Asian producers are feverishly trying to show the world they can make a product as good or better than the the countries they're designed in. Look at most of the crap made in the US... No good quality electronics or hardware have come out of the US in a couple of decades..."

Remember the problems with poisoned dog food, lead paint on children's toys, etc., they came from China. Read on. You can help solve the problem!

I know that I said it before, but apparently few read it so I will say it again. Anyone thinks that "Oil hits record near $112 as dollar slumps," is bad? If you do then just keep buying more Chinese and other imports and you will see $300.00 per barrel. When we import more than we sell, the dollar becomes worthless! Ask anyone who has lived in a country with rampant inflation what comes next. You will find that prices will double on everything, again, and again. Everything except wages that is, of course. Suck it up and buy more frozen strawberries and other Chinese products from Wal-Mart! DUH!!!!

If we stop buying Chinese, or other imports, then, the stores will find products to sell that are made here. Fix what you have, Make it do, or do without, until Wal-Mart and the other discount stores wake up. We can make it happen. We can increase the value of our dollar. We can save our country's economy. If the company like Land's End will not tell you where it is imported from (Lands end advertisements simply say "imported), then do not buy it. China will not buy from USA so intelligent people in USA will avoid Chinese products like the plague.

The only thing that I will continue to purchase at Wal-Mart is Distilled water. It comes from USA and they charge $0.68 per gallon while my grocery store charges over $1.00. I buy about a half a pallet at a time. I will also buy my prescriptions at Wal-Mart as they only charge me $4.00 for my generics, while Walgreens and CVS charge me $10.00.

[Edited by: JimL1 at 3/18/2008 10:22:43 AM EST]
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Champion Author Regina

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:15:44 AM

How about a real challenge. A vehicle that will get 100mpg and haul something reasonable like a family or groceries. Or even a trailer or some lumber.
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Veteran Author Atlanta

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:12:28 AM

how about 150 MPG?
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Sophomore Author New Jersey

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:06:44 AM

good
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Champion Author Milwaukee

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:05:16 AM

There have been plenty of 100mpg vehicles. To a car, they have been lower in power than critics were willing to put up with. 20 second 0-60 times with drops down to 45MPH climbing a 8% grade were too "slow" for the market. 30-40HP is enough for commuting and that would get you to 85-95MPH sustained. Faster than you can legally go in any state (although Montana keeps flirting with unlimited summer freeway speeds). A turbo diesel hybrid would be the best of all worlds, can run on 8 fuels (diesel, gasoline (all diesels can), ethanol, methanol (with suitable fuel lines), biodiesel (used vegatble oil), fuel oil (only during summer and most stationary diesels use this as its cheaper and keeps like forever), kerosene and jet fuel), gets high mpg, low emissions and actually pulls CO2 from the air as biodiesel production sequesters more carbon into the ground than it emitted during burning.
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Veteran Author Fresno

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:59:44 AM

How safe could it be
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Champion Author South Carolina

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:56:59 AM

The patten will be worth more than 10 mil.
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Champion Author Orlando

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:46:34 AM

Very cool - these things can really help the technology advance
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Veteran Author Twin Cities

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:44:47 AM

I don't agree with Bluebird1. The consumer climate has changed dramatically. Car companies make money selling vehicles. Pickup trucks and SUVs have become hard to sell. Look at any car lot today; it is no longer filled with SUVs and trucks. It's filled with small cars. mpg has been the top topic for consumers at the recent auto shows.

I think if a car company had the opportunity to be the first to market a 100 mpg vehicle, they would jump on it, especially one of the struggling American auto companies.
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Champion Author San Jose

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:41:44 AM

And it must survive a crash with a 3 ton Hummer.
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Champion Author Tampa

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:40:37 AM

Sign me up.
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Champion Author Gary

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:37:36 AM

yes it would.
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Champion Author New Mexico

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:37:09 AM

That would be nice.
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Champion Author Toronto

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:36:56 AM

Sounds like an innovative way to bring new tech. forward, however even if achieved & practical - no car company will be interested in it ....except to buy it to shelve it.
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Champion Author New Jersey

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:34:28 AM

hope they succeed
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Champion Author Nevada

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:33:06 AM

Won't happen very soon!
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Veteran Author Missouri

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:31:04 AM

It sounds great, but getting a major manufacurer to mass produce them would be nearly impossible
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Champion Author Detroit

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:28:30 AM

Why can't a small electric motor be used to start a vehicle. Then it would use less gas and could be rechanged while running on gas?
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Champion Author Jackson

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:27:05 AM

As mpg goes up, so will the price of gas at a similar rate.
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Champion Author Los Angeles

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Message Posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:22:12 AM

The intent is to spur innovation...how it gets used is another problem.
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