I don't know if any of you have heard about this, but Progressive Auto Insurance is holding a pretty important event this year involving new types of hybrid/electric/whatever vehicles.  It's called the Progressive Auto X Prize and it's basically the NASA X Prize concept for new types of green vehicles that can meet or exceed the 100mpg mark while retaining safety and emitting increasingly low levels of carbon dioxide and other harmful vapors into the air.  The competition is meant to inspire companies from all across the world to develop new types of vehicles that can do this so they can get public attention and hopefully get manufactured by major auto makers everywhere.

Website

Although there's only a bit of information concerning the actual event on the website, tonight I learned that as of right now the "race" is going to be comprised of a series of events throughout 2009 and into 2010 that will test the performance of the vehicles in every possible aspect of safety, fuel economy, and production cost.  It will start in New York City and work its way across the United States to California, with the grand prize for the final four contestants being a 3:1 split of $10 MILLION between the Mainstream and Alternative classes and a contract for the production of something like 60,000 units.

So anyway, this is where I come in.

As some of you may know I've been working as a freelance web designer for some months now in the middle Tennessee area, and one of my very first projects was with the son of the founder of one of the biggest acoustic panel manufacturers in the United States.  This guy's dad runs a multi-million dollar company and in the last few years has used some of his resources to create designs for new models of vehicles that can achieve ridiculous MPG and low emissions.  He's started a couple of different companies to manufacture and sell these things, and he's actually been on the Discovery Channel a couple of times with his best selling model - the Exertrike.

This guy is no stranger to the process that creating a 100+ MPG vehicle that can be manufactured at a lost cost entails, and tonight his son came to my house to let me know that my name has been filed on all of the necessary documentation to include me as a team member when they put together a car this year and enter the Progressive X Prize competition! 

Apparently one of the requirements to be considered a contestant in the competition is to have a team assembled that can cover all aspects of production and marketing of the vehicle.  This means they have to have a web developer on hand, a website, and lots of marketing materials to get the word out when they start doing car shows later this year in preparation for the event.  And yes, that means YOURS TRULY gets to manage all of this for the Exertrike team and possibly get a nice cut of the money if they actually go all the way!

This is pretty exciting for me in a number of different ways, as once we draw closer to the race getting started I'll actually get to travel to New York and subsequently ACROSS THE GREAT STATES to attend every event.  I'll be working my ass off updating the website, creating new informational materials, and tossing T-shirts to people for the team.  This will also provide a great opportunity for me to traverse the land sprinkling business cards like pixie dust for my own web design company I'm trying to get off of the ground sometime in the next month or two. 

Aside from that, the greatest thing about it is that I'm going to be on the front lines of a historical event that will quite likely be a major step in changing the automotive industry as we know it and helping to preserve the environment in a BIG way. 

DISCUSS ALREADY.



 

when i first saw the topic title i thought it was something lame like I MIGHT GET INHERITANCE GUYS (LOTS OF DUBLOONS) but i was surprised to hear this is something of actual substance. it seems like this is news to you so i am not entirely sure how much you know about this event, but what kind of competition is there? is there really any way to gauge how many people will be entering?

The first rule of coming into contact with a large sum of money is not to tell people about it.

But, anyways, sounds like you are leeching off of the actual engineers. Good job!

it seems like this is news to you so i am not entirely sure how much you know about this event, but what kind of competition is there? is there really any way to gauge how many people will be entering?

Here.  From what I understand there are still going to be lots of people signing up, but the period to do so ends sometime in mid-2008.  You can go to each contestant's website from there.

We're still waiting on our packet to come in the mail so we can get everything in order, so we're not on the list yet.  However, production on the vehicle has already started and they're trying to have a display model put together by next month.

The first rule of coming into contact with a large sum of money is not to tell people about it.

Eh, the money is a cool thought but there's no guarantee that I'm going to see any of it.  I mean, there's already a lot of great competitors already signed up and it's not like any one team has a significant edge over another. 

At best I could be looking at somewhere near $75,000 and then going on to lead the web design team if the vehicle actually gets a manufacturing contract.  I'm excited about the prospect of the money but the real opportunity here is to give myself a solid foundation as a web designer. 

What are you planning to do with the money?

If our team manages to win then I'll pay off my student loans and invest the remainder into my web design company.  Might make a fat donation to GW somewhere in between the financial aid department on campus and the business office in town, though.

I'm exited for you dude but yeah if this stuff picks up and they actually win you don't know what the hell is liable to happen does you being a member on the team count for anything if they feel like kicking you off or not giving you a cut if they win?

I really don't think that would happen.  I mean anything's possible, but these guys seem to be pretty stand-up chaps and if I can manage to put a successful marketing campaign together for them then I doubt they'd have much of an incentive to boot me.  Either way I'll still get to travel across the United States and market my own company regardless of what they do after (and if) they win. 

this seems a chance of a lifetime, good luck with this man. I would do it just to be able to travel like you said.

First off mazel tov for being a part however small of something GOOD that gets money, butttttt come on man your share isn't going to be much I mean it's ten million split four ways split probably mostly among the car developers who will reinvest it in the car! you will get some chef money for a bit.

or as we know it.

livin like a sarevok.

out of the entire $10 million I'd say his guesstimate of $75,000 was probably pretty accurate.  He'd be paid mostly based on the work he'd be doing over an extended campaign.

You'll be in charge of an entire marketing campaign? Wouldn't somebody who went to college for marketing (I assume you went for Web Design, although I'm not sure if they might have some overlapping classes or something) do the job better? I'm sure you could make the sweetest website, but an entire marketing campaign sounds a) a lot of work b) very stressful!

Actually I haven't even graduated yet and I've never taken a formal class in web design except for bullshit Dreamweaver courses in high school, and even then I didn't use the software and coded everything in notepad.  I was actually an English major for about a year and a half and just recently changed my major to Programming.  And yeah, I've never had the first marketing class.

From what I understand about these people just about everything they do is very grassroots.  They like to meet local people wherever they go and get them in on stuff like this rather than trying to deal with professionals who probably want more money up front than they are worth.  I'm pretty sure I got signed on for this because I'm good at what I do AND I'm willing to do it on a voluntary basis and accept a small percentage if they actually get anything out of the contest.  I'm just getting started in my field and having something like this in my portfolio is more valuable than a lump sum of money under $100,000 that I could potentially get out of it.

And yeah, an entire marketing campaign is going to be a bitch to get started but luckily both Mr. Perdue and his son are both whizzes at this kinda shit and basically they just need me for the design aspect of it.  I'll be putting together all of their promotional materials and such but they'll be the ones who actually meet with sponsors and try to pitch the idea to them.  I won't be running the entire thing, but I'll be personally responsible for every aspect of the internet part of it.

Juris if you check out the website they have a list of contestants and almost all of them have a website with engine specs. 

Just thought I'd let you guys know that I'll probably have some pics of what the car is going to look like when it's finished today as well as some specs.  Dunno if I'll be able to share the specs but I'm sure I'll be updating with some sort of new info here in a few hours.

EDIT:  Actually, no.  The display model of the car should be finished Feb. 1.  I'll update then.