Two car designers in Calgary are chasing after a 10-million dollar prize.
Nathan Armstrong and Darren McKeage of Motive Industries Inc. are hoping to win the X PRIZE for developing the car of the future.
They are working on a design that could be mass-produced and use whatever technology is eventually adopted.
"We can have batteries underneath. It can have a fuel cell. It can have a generator. It can be plugged in," says Armstrong. "Basically, trying to cover all these bases because nobody really knows five years down the road what will be standard technology for the electric vehicle."
Four years ago, the X PRIZE Foundation awarded 10 million dollars to the designers of the world's first private spacecraft.
The foundation is now offering the same amount to the first developer of a car that can achieve 100 miles per gallon and can be mass-produced.
The Calgary team recently received an endorsement for its project. Popular Mechanics magazine says Armstrong and McKeage are one of the top ten teams in the competition, which has attracted nearly one-hundred entrants.
The team is still looking for a corporate sponsor to help pay for a full-scale model of the car.
The winner of the prize will be chosen in 2010.
For more information about the X-PRIZE or the Motive Industries team, click on the web links.
