Illuminati Motor Works is a volunteer group of engineers, automotive technicians, graphic artists and car enthusiasts who have worked on alternative means of transport and alternative energy for many decades in their professional and personal lives. Our team members have built electric, solar electric, series hybrid mini Baja, natural gas fuel injected parallel hybrid, and stored are super charged fuel injected vehicles and have competed in the 1995 Hybrid Electric Vehicle and 1996 Future Car challenges.

We have worked for a variety of companies including Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and GM where we did circuit and system design, programmed and completed prototyping for the EV and HEV programs. Together we bring a unique set of abilities and diverse backgrounds from which to attack the challenges as set forth by the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. Our preliminary design work supported by hands on experience gained through our collective histories led us to believe that we can not only meet but exceed the performance goals of this competition.

Our team members include:

George Kennedy: Mechanical Engineer
Nathan Knappenburger: Computer Science and Electronics Engineer
Thomas Pasko: Master Automotive Technician
Kevin Smith: Team Leader and Principle Engineer
Josh Spradlin: Graphic Designer/ Fabricator

The Vehicle:

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE competition is all about building practical and clean cars that will achieve 100 MPG or its equivalent. Our underlying design strategy, a battery electric vehicle, BEV, employs clever engineering of simple low cost components. This strategy reminiscent of KISS, Keep It Simple Silly, will be carried throughout our vehicle design and construction. Not only is the competition to meet or exceed 100 MPGe while maintaining driver comfort, safety and performance but it must produce a technically and economically viable vehicle that can be mass-produced and brought to market. This isn't a competition for competition sake, it is for the sake of our society and our continued existence on this planet. Earth will survive whether we do or not. It is within our ability to decide whether we are here to stay; it's just going to take some innovation and a lot of hard work.

Illuminati Motor Works (IMW) “Seven” is a four seat, BEV. The vehicle has dual modular design enabling both its drive train and body components to be swapped out. This concept allows bolt on adaptation of a hybrid drive train that can take advantage of many different fuels including Diesel, BioDiesel, Ethanol, and natural gas and body styles including the four door sedan and truck versions. The design flexibility coupled with its other strengths will allow for quick market adoption of the vehicle.