New Wikispeed Car Could Cost $10K and Get 100 MPG

Posted by clnews _Featured_, Technology Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

Alyssa Danigelis
Discovery News

Mind-blowing fuel efficiency shouldn’t have to mean plunking down $100,000, no disrespect to Tesla. The ideal commuter car is fast, light, modular, certifiably safe, gets at least 100 miles per gallon, and won’t cost an arm and a leg. While we were all daydreaming, the Wikispeed team was building it.

The Wikispeed C3 stands for Comfortable Commuter Car, and that’s very much been the goal for Seattle-based software consultant turned automotive designer Joe Justice. Several years ago, he and a bunch of volunteers entered the Progressive Insurance X Prize in a bid to win $10 million for the best, safest 100-mpg car. His Wikispeed team didn’t win, but they placed respectably.

International volunteers use tools like Google Docs and Dropbox as well as fast-paced innovation practices emerging in the software world that allowed them to build an $800 structural carbon fiber car body in three days ahead of last year’s Detroit auto show, according to Forbes.com’s Steve Denning.

The global, distributed team has plans to make a production car that costs $17,995 or $10,000 as a kit. Currently they’re selling copies of their X Prize car for $25,000 each, which is described as having a Roadster body that gets 109 miles per gallon, goes zero to 60 in five seconds, and can reach 149 MPH.

Read the full article:
news.discovery.com/autos/wikispeed-100-mpg-120724.html

Image: MohrComposites and Wikispeed.com