Wednesday, November 19, 2008

SoCal Firms In X PRIZE Auto Contest

Los Angeles-based X Prize Foundation said today that it has signed up 22 teams in the firm's Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, including two Southern California teams. The prize, which is looking to award $10M to a team which develops a 100 MPG, super fuel-efficient vehicle, said that among the 22 teams which have registered for the prize are Idealab-backed Aptera Motors, based in Carlsbad, and Santa Ana-based Kinetix Motors. Aptera recently raised $24M from Idealab, Google, and a number of other backers for its composite, lightweight hybrid electric vehicles; Kinetix Motors is currently raising financing, according to its web site. The X PRIZE competition will begin in 2009, with winners awarded in 2010.