X-cars may be scaring off Detroit automakers

There's going to be a public competition among energy-efficient cars. So far none of the major manufacturers has entered. Scared, perhaps?

The X Prize Foundation has announced a competition among land vehicles that get at least 100 miles per gallong of fossil fuel, or its equivalent. So far thirty teams have enetered, including electric car makers, Tesla (pictured above) and ZAP. But none of the automakers bnased in Detroit or Japan.

According to the X Prize foundation, the race "is expected to travel through multiple cities while broadcast to a global audience in 2009 and 2010, building consumer demand for vehicles in the competition and demonstrating many practical, clean and affordable vehicle options. Cities involved in the competition route have not yet been chosen."

Watch for a separate competition among cities to be chosen as a race site. If gasoline prices continhue to rise, this race could get as much publicity as the biennial Olympics.