Improve my gas mileage! That’s the statement that’s been going around since nearly the dawn of the industrial age. Nearly 100 years of just trying to figure out how get further on a gallon of gas.

Although gas mileage devices have nearly doubled the actual mileage most cars get in the last 75 years, progress on this front has never been slower. Looking back over the last 20 years or so you will see very little improvement.

Well, time to enter the Auto X Prize competition which is being sponsored the the Progressive auto insurance Co. The first 100 mpg car is the goal and the contest was officially launched in March and you can still get in.

The Auto X Prize will award a $10 million dollar prize to the first person…or group of persons…who can demonstrate that 100mpg achievement during cross-country races.

Up for the challenge? The competition races begin sometime in 2009 so if you think you can somehow “improve my gas mileage” it’s time to quit thinking and get building!

The questions are, do you think you have what it takes? What exactly are the rules to win the cash and what is the goals that need to be accomplished?

To start with, the goals are fairly simple. We need to get off our dependence on foriegn oil. We need cars that are totally efficient and we need them to be environmentally responsible. Bottom line? Improve my gas mileage!

The winning car will demonstrate an easy concept and something that is simple to understand. Something along the line of a car that you and I could actually work on. Is that even possible now days?

It’s benefits need to be globally beneficial and with that in mind it is a global completion. No matter where you are from, your brains and your talent are welcome.

The car that wins must be something we can all buy. If your idea is still a concept car, that won’t work. It must be ready to be produced.

Some of the other rules are those such as only fair and non partisan contestants are allowed. If you are asking yourself what that is…you are pretty safe to enter. Also, fuel efficiency, performance, emission, safety and other issues need to be addressed.

Don’t get hung up on the technicals. If you can build something that you can enter and it is capable of being manufactured then all shade tree mechanics world wide need to get busy!

Imagine the implications of such a contest not only for those who might win but for the entire world at large!

Are you thinking how life could change for you and the world in general as this technology reaches into other industries as well. Things would change on a global scale.

There’s lots more information about this on the net if you know where to start searching so get those fingers and eyeballs working. You never know. Maybe you will be the one to give us all the gas mileage improvement we all really need.