2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), Detroit, MI – Chris Arcus is the director of electrical engineering for Saba Motors. Saba is competing for the X-Prize.
Saba has a small electric roadster with a lithium-iron-phosphate battery. How safe is that battery? Saba’s cars are lightweight, less than 2,000 pounds, which allows them to go further on a charge. A smaller, lighter electric car means a smaller battery pack, resulting in shortened recharge times.
SABA Motors make the final X-Prize cut and is funded by X-Prize to visit SEMA Show, The Carbon-Zero roadster was on display at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas in early November, and is in the running for Progressive Insurance’s Automotive X-Prize purse of $10 million.
On October 19th, the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE announced that SABA Motors was one of the 43 Qualified Teams who received passing scores from the Design Judges and are therefore qualified to progress to the next stage of the competition. The Design Judging process, whereby a team of select automotive experts evaluated 97 registered entries reduced the field by more than half. The remaining teams will bring a total of 53 vehicles (28 Mainstream and 25 Alternative Class) into the next stage of the competition.
About the carbon-zero roadster:
Zero pollution vehicle: 100% plug-in electric vehicle
high performance: 0-60 in 5 seconds 105 mph top speed
low operating cost: <$0.03 per mile typical fuel cost
Inherently low manufacturing cost, easy to scale vehicle design
Employing proven motor technology: 40,000 plus in use
available in late 2010!
NAIAS
