Washington, July 25 (ANI): While we were daydreaming about the ideal commuter car, which is fast, light, modular, certifiably safe, gets at least 100 miles per gallon, and won't cost an arm and a leg, the Wikispeed team was building it.
The Wikispeed C3 stands for Comfortable Commuter Car, and that's very much been the goal for Seattle-based software consultant turned automotive designer Joe Justice, Discovery News reported.
Several years ago, he and a bunch of volunteers entered the Progressive Insurance X Prize in a bid to win 10 million dollars for the best, safest 100-mpg car. His Wikispeed team didn't win, but they placed respectably.
International volunteers use tools like Google Docs and Dropbox as well as fast-paced innovation practices emerging in the software world that allowed them to build an 800 dollars structural carbon fiber car body in three days ahead of last year's Detroit auto show, according to Forbes.com's Steve Denning.
The global, distributed team has plans to make a production car that costs 17,995-10,000 dollars as a kit. Currently they're selling copies of their X Prize car for 25,000 dollars each, which is described as having a Roadster body that gets 109 miles per gallon, goes zero to 60 in five seconds, and can reach 149 MPH.
The vehicle has a modular design so its car body can be changed from a convertible to a pickup truck and its gas engine can rapidly be swapped for an electric one.
It reportedly has the lightest chassis in the world to achieve a five-star crash rating equivalency. Before you get too excited, though, there's no lockable trunk, roof or cup holders.
In order to get into production, the vehicles must be tested first. One crash test is insanely expensive, though, so the team is selling 10 prototypes and raising money on the funding site Indiegogo.com.
One prototype has already been sold to an anonymous Seattle resident. The group hopes to afford a crash test later this month. (ANI)
