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Eyes on the Prize...
FVT one step closer to $2.5 million.
May 2010 |
| The eVaro joins 28 teams at the "Shakedown" |
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Michigan International Speedway (MIS) was the venue for the first stage of the Progressive Automotive Insurance X Prize competition. 28 teams got a chance to run their vehicles on the track, check out the other vehicles, and "shakeout" the kinks before the "knockout" stage in June. It was a great time, and we met some great teams.
 The eVaro at MIS
The eVaro started the week strong with Technical Inspection going very well. Inspectors spent hours going over each vehicle, questioning the teams on their safety systems, engineering and overall vehicle design rational. The inspectors were quite impressed with the FVT's level of engineering and quality of construction. With a few minor modifications the eVaro passed technical inspection by Tuesday morning. As other teams came by to check out the eVaro most were impressed at what they saw under the hood. As one fellow put it - " Wow! There's workmanship and then there's craftsmanship. That's craftsmanship!"
The next stage of the competition starts mid-June and will consist of 24 teams, 5 total in FVT's category. Click below to see FVT's competitors.
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New eVaro body style revealed |
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The latest eVaro body design has been in the works for 16 months and was revealed at the Shakedown in Michigan. George's design changes continue to make the eVaro look more like a fighter jet than a car.
Major changes include increasing the size of the gullwing door, two windows for the passenger, a sliding canopy for the driver, hood flares, more passenger leg-room, a trunk and side hatch for more storage.
The dash now sports twin LCD screens, back-up camera and bushed aluminum/carbon fiber detailing. The screen images, software and code writing were designed by Frank Cloutier and his team in Corvalis.
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Avoid the moose... |
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Because the focus of the X Prize competition is "real cars that people will drive" the competition includes many stages that production cars must meet. One of the maneuvers is called the "crash avoidance test" (affectionately called the "moose avoidance test"). Cars approach the test area at 45mph, quickly swerve into the left hand lane then back again in a very short distance. There are some urban myths that claim 3 wheeled vehicles are tippy - particularly in this maneuver. As FVT expected, the eVaro had no problem with this test.
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