BRITISH company Delta Motorsport is the only European contender in a competition to find the most environmentally friendly car on the planet.
The Automotive X-Prize competition has a 10 million dollar prize fund and electric cars, such as the E-4 Coupe entered by Delta, must be capable of 200 miles between charges and there will be tests of braking distances and usability.
Crucially, the winning vehicle should be ready for mass production.
Silverstone-based Delta has considerable experience in high technology engineering, motorsport and clean technology projects.
Founder Simon Dowson says: "We became involved with the design of environmentally friendly vehicles because they share many of the engineering challenges associated with motorsport – maximum efficiency, light weight, good aerodynamics and so on.
“We worked with Oxford University on a lightweight, highly efficient electric motor and have completed several road haulage aerodynamic programmes to improve fuel efficiency."
With the E-4 Coupe, Delta Motorsport has applied innovative thinking to the design and manufacture of a zero emission four-seater road car
Unlike most other electric vehicles, the performance of the E-4 Coupe is claimed to match that of conventional cars, with acceleration from zero to 60mph in under five seconds and maximum speed in excess of 100mph. The first example will be completed next month.
As one of 100 companies embracing the low carbon economy, Delta was invited to Downing Street and Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “Our transition to a low carbon economy will be a key driver of our future economic prosperity.
“Delta Motorsport is at the forefront of this transition. Their innovation and expertise demonstrates why the UK is one of the best places in the world for low carbon business.”
As an indication of how tough the X-Prize competition is, none of the new generation of energy-efficient cars from major car manufacturers – such as the Ford Escape, Renault ZE or Nissan Leaf – will meet the criteria.
The design judging rounds of the X-Prize competition have taken place and the Delta Motorsport E-4 Coupe is one of the 28 entries which will take part in the safety inspections and dynamic evaluations at Michigan International Speedway at the end of April.
Further X-Prize events will follow through the summer with entries being eliminated at each stage. The winners will be announced in September on the lawn of The White House in Washington DC.
The E-4 Coupe will be unveiled to the UK media in May.
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