²ÝÁñÉçÇø

The team from Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute is in Detroit and ready for the second round of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize competition, which began this morning at Michigan International Speedway.

The team from the VRI has been working hard to get Viking 45 ready for today's technical inspection. The car received a conditional pass from the opening round.

The second round, called the "knockout qualifying stage," runs through June 30. To narrow the field of competitors, X-Prize officials will re-conduct inspections and certify readiness for knockout stage challenges, according to the . In order to pass this stage, teams must demonstrate that their vehicles can achieve at least two-thirds of the stated 100 MPGe (miles per gallon or energy equivalent) goal while also meeting expectations for range, emissions, and real world performance. Achieving emissions thresholds will prove a significant hurdle for teams in this stage, as will the hill climb challenge.

Want to follow the action and stay up-to-date with the latest news? Here are a few good places to start:

Twitter:

• Follow the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø X-Prize team: .
• Follow the Progressive Automotive X-Prize: .
• Conduct a search for hashtag .
• Updates specific to ²ÝÁñÉçÇø also will be posted on the and Twitter feeds.

Facebook:

Blogs:

More:

• For a list of all the remaining teams with links to each team's social media sites, check out .
• Check back here at for any updates as they come available.
• Check out our videos of Viking 45 in action , and .
• For a handful of photos chronicling students' attempts to get Viking 45 up and running, click .
• More videos on some of the various tests students performed on parts of Viking 45 and the prototype, Viking 40: