When the Automotive X-Prize announced its competition, and especially the $10 million in prize money that goes along with it, we figured that plenty of small, relatively unknown companies would enter the proceedings. They have. The good news is that this is exactly the point of the event – to stimulate innovation in a rational, usable manner. Of course, some are more oddball than others, but we digress. One new competitor called Maxi-Eco appears to be coming by way of Brazil with a new flex-fuel axial engine design that it believes will handily outperform the 100 mile per gallon equivalent rating that the competition calls for.

The firm had considered going the hybrid route, but has since decided that its patent pending engine technology will be fine without it. At this point, the engine resides in a Lotus 7 knockoff, but the team will enter the X-Prize competition with an undetermined production car chassis fitted with its unique powerplant. Thanks for the tip, Gustavo!

[Source: MotorTips]