May 13, 2008
Two Maryland residents reach for extra miles
Gas-saving cars could win $10 million prize
"We're trying to do what's good for the Earth," says Dr. Gregorio Belloso, who is building an energy-efficient car in hopes of winning the Progressive Automotive X Prize of $10 million. (Sun photo by Chiaki Kawajiri / April 11, 2008)
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SALISBURY - In a cluttered two-car garage a few miles from his home, Gregorio Belloso's answer to the nation's energy problems is taking shape.
Mounted on aluminum frames are the skeletal beginnings of two homemade cars that will sip gasoline instead of guzzle it: a four-seat model and a two-seater. Belloso is building them with technology he designed and patented, in hopes that they will win him $10 million.
The semiretired surgeon says it isn't the prospect of the money that inspires him to pursue the Progressive Automotive X Prize in a national competition designed to spur development of fuel- efficient cars. What he really wants is bragging rights.
"I'm very much excited about the possibilities," said Belloso, 73. "We're trying to do what's good for the Earth."
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Belloso, who has tinkered with cars since his teenage years in the Philippines, is one of 64 contestants from 10 countries vying to create a car priced for the mass market that gets 100 miles per gallon of gasoline -- or the equivalent in alternative fuels.
"Our goal is to stimulate a wide range of new options, new technologies," said John Shore, a senior director of the Progressive Automotive X Prize, the nonprofit group organizing the contest.
The only other Maryland contestant so far is Lt. Cmdr. Jack Staub, a Navy pilot based at Patuxent River Naval Station. Staub's 11-member team is building a two-seat, diesel-electric vehicle that mates technology from the Honda Insight, a lightweight gas-electric car, with the Lupo 3L, a diesel-powered four-seater from Volkswagen that was marketed in Europe until 2005.
"My hope is to show these concepts aren't just fairy tales," he said.
Some are certainly creative. One team is using flywheels as a power source; another is using compressed air to boost acceleration.
The competition begins with a qualifying race next year, and the finals a year later. The race will include five legs of 30 to 200 miles, each run in a different city. Routes will include urban streets and rural highways, with heat, hills, rain, snow and terrain that represent real-world driving conditions. Last month, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg agreed to host the first qualifier in September 2009.
"You get a lot of people who say, it's about time for something like this," said Donald J. Foley, executive director of the Progressive X Prize.
As gasoline prices rise and the world's oil supply fails to keep pace with demand, the X Prize is just one of several prominent efforts to promote fuel-efficient cars.
"It's really the tip of the iceberg," said Dennis Assanis, director of the Automotive Research Center and a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan.
Federal fuel efficiency standards, known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), were recently updated and will require automakers to produce cars and trucks that average 35 mpg by 2020, Assanis said.
Current CAFE standards require 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.5 mpg for trucks, vans and SUVs.
The tougher mileage standards have the world's automakers looking for new designs. The challenge is producing a car that's lighter -- to improve mileage -- but still has the size, power and stability to appeal to consumers.
"One of the questions you have to ask is, what do people want out of a car?" Assanis said.
To encourage marketable designs, contest organizers set up two classes of entries: a mainstream car that seats four and an alternative vehicle that seats two. Four-seaters must have a range of 200 miles without refueling or recharging, while two-seaters must have a 100-mile range.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
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