Could the X-prize prove Detroit has duped America?

The car that started it all?

When Toyota launched the Prius hybrid car, executives from the Big 3 almost couldn't stop laughing at such a ridiculous effort. Americans, they seemed to believe, could care less about hybrid cars and fuel efficiency.

Well, who is laughing now?

Sure, hybrids are a long way from ending the internal combustion engine, but the vehicles did wake up some Americans, especially those realizing the ever-growing dangers of foreign oil dependency and/or global warming.

Can the Automotive X-Prize challenge the auto establishment even more? Dan Carney comments for Edmunds "The winning cars will not use "fuel molecule aligners," "air vortex generators," "fish carburetors" or any of the other mythical and fraudulent add-on devices claimed to produce fantastic fuel economy. Of course, this [an X-Prize Winner] will prove to conspiracy theorists that there's still a nefarious conspiracy between Detroit and Big Oil."