After passing a technical inspection and reaching the first knockout qualifying stage at Michigan International Speedway, the Cornell 100+ MPG Team was forced to withdraw from competition for safety reasons related to battery control circuitry.

Competing in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, which offers a $10 million prize to cars that get 100 miles to the gallon or equivalent, the team experienced two separate failures in the electronic components that monitor the car's lithium-iron battery packs. Lacking the time to fully diagnose the problem, they chose to withdraw from the contest citing safety concerns.

"We don't know if it was a design flaw or a manufacturing flaw," said Al George, team co-adviser. "There is a lot of energy stored in those batteries."

Cornell finished their run in the contest as one of nine teams in the mainstream vehicle class (judged separately from alternative-class vehicles), after being winnowed from a list of more than 100 qualifying vehicles back in April 2009. They were also the only university team representing mainstream vehicles.

The team arrived at Michigan International Speedway June 14 to prepare to race. They passed the final technical inspection near the end of the week, and they noticed the problem with the batteries June 17. After spending most of June 17 and 18 trying to figure out the problem, they decided to withdraw at about 1 p.m. June 18 -- just before their first endurance race.

"We just ran out of time, and I think if we were able to have a few days of testing we would have figured out what the issue was," said team co-leader David Zlotnick '11.

George stressed that the team backs the goals of the X Prize -- to showcase new technologies for sustainable transportation. Zlotnick said he hopes Cornell can use the car for educational purposes and to demonstrate energy-efficient plug-in hybrid vehicle technology.