With the increase in fuel prices and the apparent instability in the market even auto insurance companies are getting in the act when it comes to designing and building more fuel efficient cars. With the way American auto makers have been dragging their feet when it comes to improving fuel economy and producing a wider variety of high mileage models this is good news.
The insurance company that is encouraging the development in fuel efficient technologies is Progressive Insurance. They are sponsoring a competition called Progressive Automotive X Prize.
The insurance company competition is offering $10 Million in prizes for teams that can win a stage race with a clean burning vehicle that exceeds 100 miles per gallon in fuel economy. The vehicle also has to be “production-capable” rather than just a concept car and something that the public would want to buy and drive. The major focus of the competition is said to be “efficiency, safety, affordability, and the environment”.
To forward this competition, Progressive has recently hired several prominent executives to move the project forward. I can only assume that Insurers are realizing that the current model for gas guzzling vehicles in not sustainable and that sooner or later we will have to pay a price for our short sighted approach to automobile manufacturing and marketing.
Ultimately, though in a market driven economy it is the public that is going to have to vote with their wallets and demand vehicles that are more efficient or that use alternative fuels that are sustainable. Pressure from insurance companies and other related industries is important, but the customers will always force the final decision.