Information Madness

The Progressive Insurance Automotive X “Light Weight Gas Vehicle Prize” is a contest where the innovation and the development of new generation of cars come together. This contest is designed to advance in production of more efficient cars, constructed to reduce the environmental pollution.

In this edition, the jury has chosen for an aerodynamic car, built with lightweight materials and with an internal combustion engine. Edison2, a car made by a Virginia company, which took home the big prize – 5 million dollars.

Edison2 is powered by a single-cylinder engine, as like as motorcycles, which burns 85% ethanol + 15% gasoline and is mounted at the back of the car. The creators of this beauty choose to use an internal combustion engine instead of an electric one because the batteries add weight, as they explained on the Edison2 blog.

The care looks like an egg on wheels or like a helicopter, but it weighs only 830lbs (376kg) while the Smart car is about 1600lbs (726kg).Because the makers of the car was former race car drivers, it’s logic that the three passengers + the driver have to get inside this vehicle thru the upper window as like as race cars. The top speed of this Edison2 car is 100mph, has enough acceleration to handle in traffic, great fuel economy and air conditioning.

As Edison2 owner said, this car has a good price, too, while Oliver Kuttner said that if this car ever reaches the market, it would be going on sale for $20.000, considering that Edison2 is built with recyclable or low-cost materials. But according to Consumer Reports rates, the Edison2 need to improve its braking and handling systems before going out on the market.