Delta Motorsport’s E4 Coupe is a contender for the X-PRIZE, an eco competition that searches for the “greenest” cars in the world.
Delta Motorsport is the only British/European company that has submitted an entry to this contest. The winner gets a $10 million prize fund from US insurance company, Progressive Insurance. To qualify, vehicles must be designed for mass production, be capable of at least 200 miles per charge and comply with certain braking and usability standards. Delta Motorsport hopes that its E4 Coupe, a zero emission four-seater, is up for the task.
Delta Motorsport, based at the Silverstone Circuit Technology Park in Northamptonshire, was founded in 2005 by Simon Dowson and Nick Carpenter, who say their first four-seater road car will be completed in April. They say they will have taken the E-4 Coupe from computer to production in just three months.
Design-judging rounds of the X-Prize competition have already taken place; Delta is now planning to take the E-4 to the Michigan International Speedway, where it will undergo safety inspections and "dynamic evaluations".
Further heats will take place throughout the summer, with entries being eliminated at each stage. The winner will be announced in September, in Washington. Delta says the project was made possible by support from the East Midlands Development Agency, with a £235,000 grant for research and development.
When the firm was invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street as one of 100 firms embracing "clean" technology, Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the E-4 Coupe as being "at the forefront" of the UK's transition to a low-carbon economy, and said that Delta's innovation and expertise showed why the UK was "one of the best places in the world for low carbon business".
The car can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in under 5 seconds, and reach a top speed of more than 100 mph. These figures match some of the top performance vehicles.
Simon Downson, one of the company’s co-founders, said that Delta Motorsport is involved with the design of environmentally friendly vehicles because it faces many of the hurdles related to motorsport.
This includes maximum efficiency, light weight, good aerodynamics, etc. Downson divulged that the company collaborated with Oxford University on a lightweight, highly efficient electric motor. In fact, they have completed several road haulage aerodynamic programs to improve fuel efficiency.
It appears that the competition has very high standards, as there have been several upcoming “green” vehicles made by huge automotive firms that failed to meet its requirements. You’d be surprised to learn that the Ford Escape, Renault ZE and Nissan Leaf all didn’t make the cut. None of the teams that participate in the contest are from multi-national companies.
Follow Delta Motorsport’s progress on their blog
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