It’s been 2 years and 10 months to the day since the members of Illuminati Motor Works threw their collective hats into the international competition known as The Progressive Automotive XPRIZE, a competition to build the worlds first 100 MPGe consumer viable vehicle. On Monday June 28th at approximately 6pm, our Battery Electric vehicle, Seven, experienced mechanical failures while trying

I’ve read many articles and posts about team Illuminati, some good some bad, but one statement that seemed to be repeated on many occasions I’d like to take the opportunity to clarify here; and that statement is: “Ordinary people, doing extraordinary things” I disagree. There is not one person on this team that has not exceeded my highest expectations, and

We are here in Michigan and we had a nice easy day of it. We fixed the headlight that quit working the trace on its circuit board had gotten too hot and opened. OMG we have had some weather today it pored rain like crazy for a few minuets then cleared up and allowed some of the cars on the

Writer Jason Fagone’s Illuminati photo: Seven on a country road at night, paused after a test drive. Kevin driving, Nate riding shotgun with dueling laptops hooked into the brain of the car, me in the back, and somehow author Jason Fagone managed to unfold his long, lean frame from a cramped back seat to take this photo. It was an

Unless you have a car that was already completed the time between events is a mad dash to fix everything Xprize finds wrong with your car. Seven made it through technical last time, but we knew she could be better. We now have systems that should all work. I say should because I have crimped hundreds of connections, and wore

One of the hardest parts of this whole competition for me has been the events at MIS.  But it’s not because of the crazy mad rushes to get this or that buttoned up for inspections, or the insane level of stress that IMW is enduring.  It’s because I can’t be there to take on my fair share of those stresses

We’ve had absolutely no time since Shakedown to work with the press or invite the governor or other dignitaries to our workshop. Work to improve Seven has been daily and with a deadline that is screaming up fast. There was no time to have the car professionally painted, so I painted it. My 12 year wedding anniversary with Kevin fell

So much has changed on Seven since Shakedown. Edison2 put a bug in Kevin’s ear about how to reduce Seven’s weight, and he took their advice seriously. The trunk lids, hood, dash board, and center console have all been remade using fiberglass and peel ply. That removed approximately 60 pounds from the car. Trading out the comfortable seats for lighter