# Why X-Prize Style Competition for Cars?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-x-prize-style-competition-for-cars/301031>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 25, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-x-prize-style-competition-for-cars/301031 "2005-04-25T14:53:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-x-prize-style-competition-for-cars/301031/1 "2005-04-25T14:53:59Z")

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Jon Stewart suggested this on _The Daily Show_ when he had Richard Branson on, and it’s been kind of nagging at me. The automakers are pushing hybrid cars, and saying that “someday” we’ll get fuel cell cars. Hybrids are a stop-gap solution, at best, and we don’t know when or if fuel cell cars will be out.

So, how about an automotive X-Prize where someone has to come up with a car engine that can be a “drop-in” for existing models, so one can’t simply build a car out of exotic materials or make it some strange design that’s impractical for the average person to use?

The winner would be someone who came up with a car engine that had the same (or better) level of performance (top speed, acceleration, etc.), mileage, lower emissions, and used a cheap fuel source readily available domestically.

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-x-prize-style-competition-for-cars/301031/2 "2005-04-25T15:00:24Z")

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Whoops! The title should be “Why **No** X-Prize Style Competition for Cars?” :smack: