Valley vehicle wins 800-mile contest
Nonpetroleum-fueled roadster achieved 70 mpg in Berkeley ‘Escape’
From our weekly issue dated October 22, 2008
In its June 25 issue, Illinois Valley News reported on the progress of vehicle design work by Jack McCornack to create a 100 mpg contender for the X-Prize, a cross country road rally next spring.
Designer Jack McCornack with the vegetable-oil fueled MAX. (Photo by Michelle Binker, IVN) -Click for slideshow-
McCornack, an Illinois Valley resident, recently took an open-air prototype on the road, finishing first in the 800-mile “Escape from Berkeley” (by any nonpetroleum means). The competition, an alternative-fuel road rally, originated at Shipyard Labs in Berkeley, Calif. on Oct. 10 and concluded Monday, Oct. 13 at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
McCornack’s design, a 1,200-pound Lotus 7 replica named MAX (for Mother’s Alternative X-Prize), was repainted and fitted with flashy fenders to resemble the car featured in the cult-classic television show, The Prisoner. Its Kubota Diesel engine was fitted with a Plant Drive converter, which allowed the green-and-yellow-colored vehicle to run on vegetable oil with no change in performance.
First prize in the “Escape” run was $5,000. They also were awarded the “Sexiest Vehicle” citation. After spending a week in the open top and doorless roadster, McCornack and navigator Sharon Westcott, also of Illinois Valley, returned home Thursday afternoon, Oct. 16, road-weary and with chapped faces. Crew chief Dave Levison, friends and co-conspirators gathered at Illinois Valley Airport to congratulate the team (dubbed the Prisoners of Petroleum) and hear about the trip.
Jack McCornack and Sharon Westcott pose with MAX. (Photo by Michelle Binker, IVN)
McCornack recalls an “only in Berkeley” moment as they arrived in the city. “A guy on a bicycle came up and asked, ‘What’s that running on?’ I answered ‘Bio-diesel.’ And he glared at me.
“Bio-diesel,” said McCornack with a laugh, “is not ‘green’ enough for Berkeley.”
Of the dozen “Escape from Berkeley” entries, only five made it off the starting line. By the end of the three-day trek over mountain passes and through the heat of Death Valley, only two competitors remained. The Prisoners of Petroleum arrived in Las Vegas three hours ahead of the Green Team, a wood-fired gasifier-equipped Dodge pickup truck sponsored by Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama. The teams were permitted to leave Berkeley with only the equivalent of 1 gallon of fuel, and they were not permitted to buy more. Instead, the teams had to scrounge or otherwise obtain more fuel “for free.”
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Westcott describes pulling onto a grocery store parking lot, and whipping off the car’s bonnet. Before long a crowd would gather to ask about the head-turning vehicle. The team would explain the race premise; then make their pitch to convince others to buy fuel -- canola oil -- right off the store shelf.
Sharon Westcott displays a poster advertising the event. (Photo by Michelle Binker, IVN)
The team offered T-shirts, emblazoned with a “Prisoners of Petroleum” graphic and listing sponsors, to folks who gave them oil. MAX has been featured in Mother Earth News which is following its X-Prize ambitions. The rally was covered by the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Wired among others, and even received mention on The Colbert Report. Rally coverage is available on the Internet, at escapefromberkeley.com and in myriad blog entries.
The Prisoners narrowly avoided catastrophe at the top of the Sierras when a melted plastic bleed valve on a fuel line caused smoke to pour from the engine compartment. Pulling over quickly, the problem was rectified, and McCornack was able to photograph “tourists from many foreign lands gazing down at the engine of this car, with Yosemite’s Half-Dome in the background.” He added, “Generally in competitions of this nature, you win by having one fewer problem than anybody else.”
For now it’s back to the drawing board for MAX, as McCornack works to refine his X-Prize contender. The Progressive Automotive X-Prize competition encourages competitors to engineer clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 mpge fuel efficiency.
Jack McCornack and Sharon Westcott inspect the vehicle before setting out. (Photo by Michelle Binker, IVN)
“One of the processes of development is to drive the thing and see if it can go,” McCornack said. “We are learning a huge amount by getting something together we can actually drive. We aren’t getting 100 mph; this version isn’t going to be able to do that. We were getting 70-plus, but this thing is not as streamlined as the box it came in,” he jokes.
McCornack’s firm, Kinetic Vehicles, builds and sells Lotus-replica kit parts online. More information can be found at kineticvehicles.com.
