Auto X prize contenders

I LOVE our 2008 Prius Pkg. 5 Spectre Blue, but I could switch to the Aptera in a heartbeat, too bad the wife isn't so hot about it.

 

After seeing all the vehicles in this article, in addition to all the other news articles I've read on start-up companies making alternative-energy cars, this is a unique time in automotive history in which I think we could actually see some new major automotive companies arise. Eight years ago, everyone said there was no way a new company could compete with the already-existing major automakers ... but seeing that Toyota, GM, and the rest aren't going to have new hybrid products (or in significant numbers) until two years down the road, there is a two-year gap of opportunity for new companies to jump in and seize the opportunity. I am making a [loose] prediction that the future of automobiles may very well end up like the computer industry; thus, instead of just a few big companies, there will be hundreds of viable companies.

An all-electic Aptera with solar panels? SWEET!!!! (now if we can just get them to add a fourth wheel, this car will be near perfect)

"We’ll be up to one car per week by October in terms of pilot production." says Fambro, who has his sights set on 10,000 vehicles per year by 2011. If some of the 1700 preordered Typ-1s hit garages by the end of next year, Aptera will be just a few months behind Tesla—with plans already in motion for a four-wheeler (code name: Palomar) to compete directly with the WhiteStar."

I'm still waiting for someone to cover the ENTIRE body of a car with solar panels (in an aerodynamically-friendly way). I haven't seen it yet though.

Interesting Aptera link: The Pegasus and Fusion Human Powered Vehicles - HPV - Kelly Londry