The first prize purse of $5 million, in the mainstream category, was awarded to the Very Light Car from Edison2, a team of racing engineers from Lynchburg, Va. The vehicle had to meet several requirements: seat four; achieve a zero-to-60-mph time of 15 seconds or less; include a heater, air conditioner and stereo; carry 10 cubic feet of luggage; and a boast a driving range of at least 200 miles. Oh, and get at least 100 mpg; that part is important. The Very Light Vehicle, living up to its name at a mere 800 pounds, achieves all of this thanks to an extraordinarily low drag coefficient -- a definite necessity when your Yamaha 250cc internal-combustion engine running on E85 fuel puts out a mere 40 horsepower.

In the "alternative" category, two all-electric vehicles took home prizes of $2.5 million each. The side-by-side category was won by the Li-ion Wave II, and the covered motorcycle-style X-Tracer E-Tracer took home the purse in the tandem category.