Two decades later, Bellingham man puts 100 mpg car back on the road

KIE RELYEA - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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BELLINGHAM - Craig Henderson has the answer for high gas prices: a sports car that can go from Ferndale to Pike Place Market on a single gallon of diesel.

The Bellingham resident created the Avion with Bill Green in 1984. Two years later, the duo drove the car from the U.S./Mexico border to Vancouver, B.C. - averaging 103.7 miles per gallon and spending less than $15 on the diesel that fueled their drive into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Naturally, they thought someone would be interested in the prototype they built with knowledge they gleaned from studying at the Vehicle Research Institute at Western Washington University.

PHILIP A. DWYER | THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

LEARN MORE ABOUT AVION
Additional information about the Avion, the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition, and the Vehicle Research Institute may be found online at:

Not only was the Avion painted in "arrest me for speeding red," as Henderson likes to describe the color, but the lightweight car's fuel efficiency couldn't be beat.

He was wrong about the interest.

"Nobody really cared. Big deal. Fuel was cheap. There was a glut of fuel," Henderson, 51, recalled earlier this week. "Fast forward to today. Things change, don't they?"

So Henderson, who owns Bullfrog Boats, and Green, now a professor of industrial design at Virginia Tech University, have brought their car out of retirement.

This time, they're using what they learned the first time around to make a new, more modern version of the roadster to compete for the $10 million purse in the Progressive Automotive X Prize.

INVENTING A GREEN RIDE

Organized by the X Prize Foundation and backed by Progressive Insurance, the competition encourages the invention of a vehicle that will get at least 100 miles per gallon, or its equivalent.

That means the winning vehicle could be powered by any type of fuel, as long as it emits no more than 200 grams of carbon dioxide per mile. That's less than half the CO2 emitted, on average, by passenger cars, according to Environmental Protection Agency figures.

And X Prize organizers note on their contest Web site that "U.S. cars and light trucks are responsible for 45 percent of the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emitted by automobiles globally."

"The goal ... is to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles that help stem the effects of climate change and offer consumers more choices," said Carrie Fox, spokeswoman for the Progressive Automotive X Prize, via an e-mail interview.

Henderson said he doesn't yet know what fuel will be used to power the second-generation Avion.

More than 120 teams from 28 states and 17 countries have signed letters of intent to enter the competition, Fox said. One of those entries will come from WWU's Vehicle Research Institute.

It's unusual for a town the size of Bellingham to have one team competing, much less two, said Mike Seal, the founder of the Vehicle Research Institute and Henderson's former professor.

"These are not the average backyard tinkerers," Seal said. "They know what they're doing."

But not all 120 will be at the starting line when the competition kicks off in 2009 with a cross-country race from New York City. A second race is set for 2010.

The teams that have signed up are working on their official registration applications. Those entries will be used to narrow the field to green cars that can be manufactured and that people will actually want to drive.

"The Progressive Automotive X Prize is about real cars meeting real standards that consumers want to buy, not science projects or concept cars," Fox said.

HEAD TURNER

Henderson, president of Avion Car Co., thinks he has the car consumers want.

It could be mass-produced for about $20,000. It's fun to drive. It has room for two passengers and a pretty good-sized trunk for luggage.

It's lightweight at 1,500 pounds, thanks to a body made of aluminum and advanced composites.

Henderson said it's designed and built more like an aircraft. It looks as aerodynamic as one. Plus, its doors swing up, giving the car a winged appearance, hence the name Avion, which in its various forms in Spanish and French means aircraft or flight.

Its engine is built by Mercedes and it is fueled by diesel, but Henderson said it could be made to run with biodiesel, slightly refined vegetable oil or natural gas.

Henderson will take the Avion on a run Saturday, Oct. 11, from Bellingham to Portland - going about 60 miles per hour - to see if he can beat its old record for fuel-efficiency.

He'd liked to see if the car can get as much as 110 miles to the gallon.

If other motorists on the road react like they have in the past, Henderson will get a few thumbs-up, some smiles and people taking snapshots.

"All the people look at you," he said. "It's a fun hundred miles a gallon."