AUTOMOTIVE X PRIZE LAUNCHED IN NEW YORK:

Challenge: Winning vehicle must also be commercially viable

MORE than 60 teams from nine countries have lined up to chase a US$10 million ($13.9m) prize for making a supercar that smashes records for fuel efficiency.

The aim of the Automotive X Prize competition: To find a car that gets at least 100 miles to the gallon (43km per litre) or has energy-equivalent fuel economy.

The catch: The car must be commercially viable, reported Reuters.

Such standards are still streets ahead of current vehicles, which typically achieve less than 14km per litre, though some in production will reportedly achieve more than 35 km per litre.

Said Mr Peter Diamandis, chief executive of the X Prize Foundation, which launched the contest on Thursday at the New York auto show: "We're talking about real cars that can be brought to market."

Contestants include California-based Tesla Motors, Cornell University and a high school team from Pennsylvania.

None of the major automakers has joined the competition.

Qualifiers will be put to the test late next year in a stage race across the US.

Also at the show were other "green" cars not in the contest, such as the Chrysler's Jeep Renegade concept vehicle, which has a hybrid diesel-and lithium-ion motor that claims to give 110 miles per gallon (47km per litre).

This article was first published in The New Paper on Mar 22, 2008.