A Dream Deferred

Unfortunately, the dream has come to an end. The West Philly Hybrid X Team (profiled in July’s Grid) has been eliminated from the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize Competition. Both the team’s cars failed to reach the mileage standards in the “knock out” round of tests. The team’s Ford Focus experienced technical difficulties with its charger the night before, and was only 1.9 MPGe under the 67 MPGe limit—the team appealed the elimination but the request was denied. Despite the disappointment, Team Manager Ann Cohen had a positive take. “We used good American technology, great innovation and even greater grit and determination to build what Detroit has not: an affordable family car that gets 80 miles per gallon and has a range of 500 miles,” she said in an email to supporters.  “By the way, we also built a hot sports car that gets 64 miles per gallon. Pretty good work for a group of West Philadelphia High School underdogs.” For more on the team, and reactions to the elimination, visit evxteam.org