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"         Winning ugly works in sports, so why shouldn&amp;#039;t the same hold true when constructing a gameplan for the future of the automotive world? What the Edison2 Very Light Car\u2014the winner of the first ever Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize\u2014lacked in looks, it more than made up for in fuel efficiency and clever engineering. Launched in 2008, the X Prize competition sought to inspire a new generation of viable and super fuel-efficient vehicles capable of achieving a minimum of 100 miles per gallon (or the energy equivalent, in the case of electric vehicles).   That is the attraction of the strange-looking Edison2 Very Light Car, a vehicle designed to squeeze as many miles out of a gallon of gas as possible. The car&amp;#039;s impressive mileage turned out to be exactly 102.5 mpg. We&amp;#039;ll save you the Google search with the reminder that even a fuel-sipping hybrid only manages an EPA-certified 48 mpg on the highway.   Resembling a Cessna fuselage with wheels instead of wings, the Edison2 has a turbocharged 250-cc single-cylinder engine with 40 hp and a rear electric motor. What&amp;#039;s more, it weighs just 830 pounds and is reportedly the most aerodynamic vehicle ever tested in General Motors&amp;#039; wind tunnel. And don&amp;#039;t be fooled by the Edison2&amp;#039;s strange shape; X Prize rules for both &amp;quot;Mainstream&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Alternative&amp;quot; vehicle categories ensured teams had to construct vehicles with real world driving in mind.   Mandatory items included an enclosed cabin, windshield and wipers, windows, horn, headlights, brake lights, turn signals, side and rearview mirrors, seat belts and countless other items that eager entrepreneurs and crafty engineers often love to toss aside in the spirit of invention. That&amp;#039;s not to suggest there wasn&amp;#039;t room for a little lateral thinking. A steering wheel was not essential, for example, although some manner of steering mechanism had to be used.   Vehicles were also required to be &amp;quot;highway capable.&amp;quot; According to the X Prize rulebook, this meant having the ability to maintain 65 mph on a 4-percent uphill grade and to accelerate from 40 mph to 60 mph in less than 9 seconds. Not exactly performance, granted, but a long way from the golf-cart image often associated with homebuilt vehicles.   Prize money totaling $10 million was divided amongst the top three vehicles after a marathon-like 30 months of competition. The initial entries included more than 111 teams. The Edison2 took top honors and a total of $5 million. The remaining winnings were split evenly between electric-powered vehicles entered by Li-Ion Motors and the Peraves X-Tracer Team Switzerland.   &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;ve seen a shift in the market since we first launched this competition, and a greater awareness by people everywhere to think more seriously about the actions we take, and how they affect our environment,&amp;quot; said Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation. &amp;quot;Gas mileage ranks as one of our top concerns when purchasing a new vehicle and I believe strongly that the innovations showcased throughout the life of this competition will continue to impact and improve our car buying options for the future.&amp;quot;   &amp;quot;Congratulations to the winners and to all the teams who competed over the course of this competition. Their innovations and hard work are truly inspirational,&amp;quot; said Glenn Renwick, Progressive Insurance President and CEO. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re extremely proud to support a competition that will result in more super fuel-efficient vehicle choices; choices that will make people&amp;#039;s lives better.&amp;quot;   Whether Mr. Renwick&amp;#039;s company will be insuring cars like the Edison2 and Li-Ion Wave II anytime soon is highly unlikely. Yet the technology beneath the bodies of the three finalists holds potential in the automobile world. Using a lightweight aluminum chassis, the 2176-lb. Wave II manages the electric equivalent of 187 mpg. The Las Vegas-based manufacturer claims the highly streamlined car is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 14.7 seconds.   For anyone interested, the Wave II is already listed on the Li-Ion Motors&amp;#039; website with a price of $39,000. Owning the car of the future sounds exciting, yet we&amp;#039;re still trying to wrap our heads around why an automaker capable of building a 187-mpg car would list air conditioning as a $3500 option. According to the Li-Ion site, even power windows set you back an additional $500.   While we might not see these cars rolling down the highway anytime soon, the enterprising teams who participated will almost certainly transfer some of their fuel-saving know-how into the mainstream automotive industry. The Edison2 took top honors in the X Prize competition, but the winner in the long term might be everyday car buyers. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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