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VW Concept Microcar Gets 235 MPG
Hugh Pickens writes "Volkswagen is bringing new meaning to the term 'fuel efficiency' with a bullet-shaped microcar that gets 235 mpg. Called the One-Liter, because that's how much fuel it needs to go 100 kilometers, the body's made of carbon fiber to minimize weight and the One-Liter makes extensive use of magnesium, titanium and aluminum so the entire vehicle weighs in at 660 pounds. Aerodynamics plays a big role in its fuel economy, so the car is long and low, coming in at 11.4 feet long, 4.1 feet wide and 3.3 feet tall with a coefficient of drag of 0.16, a little more than half that of an average car. The One-Liter could have a sticker price of anywhere from $31,750 to $47,622, and VW plans to build a limited number in 2010."
You do realise that while there a some things that both cars have in common there's quite a lot more that differs between a ultrahigh mileage experimental vehicle and a road-registerable car usable in everyday traffic. Things that come to mind is having: a performance in both speed and acceleration that doesn't make it a slightly mobile roadblock, safety regarding both collision and usability, and comfortable enough to actually be usable.
Yep you nailed it. The gas prices we're seeing have less to do with scarcity, and more to do with a captive market - well, that and the fact that the majority of oil producing countries are literally overrun by the OPEC cartels, which is what inevitably happens when you stick a trillion-dollar business in a 3rd world country.
I agree, we don't need fuel efficiency, we need a whole new form of fuel. One that doesn't shackle every civilized nation to every uncivilized oil producer.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
I don't find that depressing at all. As nice as H2 sounds on paper, when it comes down to it, we're already using the ideal fuels for transportation. Liguid hydrocarbons have far superior energy density compared to other options, they're liquid at room temperature, stable, require no special containment, are basically insensitive to temperature extremes, and very scalable.
Until there's and alternative that does nearly as well in all these categories, i think the most feasible eco-solution is finding ways to displace conventional petroleum (biofuels and whatnot)
Well, for one thing, it's no less safe than riding a motorcycle and more fuel efficient to boot. I ride a yellow sport bike with a yellow reflective jacket and yellow reflective helmet and I've never even had a close call. If I were going to buy this car, I certainly wouldn't get it in silver - the color of the road. That's extremely hard to see in low light, fog, rain, etc. Get it in orange, yellow, bright green, etc and being seen on the road should be much less of a problem. As long as there's few of them on the road, and before the novelty has worn off, people won't be able to take their eyes off the orange bullet. That and some well-placed airbags would be enough to convince me.
Besides, getting a bigger vehicle for safety reasons is only excaberating the problem, because now you're the big vehicle on the road everyone else is worried about.
Simply kick all the senseless SUVs, Trucks, Offroaders and so on off the streets.
If there are only light cars around, no one get's hit by a 2.5 ton doctor's wife with her Porsche Cayenne.
It's really time for it. And by the way, if your car is extremely light, an much heavier opponent in an accidend would push your micocompact away instead of crushing through it. Especially if the microcompact is made of an robust security cell (see the Samrts Tridion Security Cell) or a Formula One like cage of carbon fiber like the VW 1L. I assume there are almost no more secure big cars around as these compacts are.
How big is a Formula 1 car, and what does it weigh?
Ever seen some of the crashes that those F1 drivers just walk away from?
These absolutist arguments are pointless.
Yes, there are times when you can avoid, and times when you cannot. This does not make it useless to favor avoidance over resilience.
You need to carry out a more complete analysis. Being able to avoid accidents in some situations will result in fewer accidents, and will result in some of those accidents being less bad. Being less crash-worthy (but please note that many SUVs, despite their size, are extremely unworthy in a crash!) will result in some of the remaining accidents being worse. To decide what's better, you need to see if the latter overcomes the former.
Most people feel helpless on the road and therefore feel safest with massive amounts of passive protection at all times, but I don't think this is actually the best way to go. Not the least because carrying all that extra passive protection around with you costs a huge amount of money, especially at $4/gallon.
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235 MPG is impressive, and this concept car is *really* cool looking, which is a rare thing when it comes to super efficient, futuristic concept cars. While I really doubt will see cars like this on the road anytime soon, this car does bring to mind some things, though, particularly in the weight department. If we took our current engine technologies (not even hybrid) and put them in much lighter cars, we'd likely be able to have cars average close to 100 MPG without any special work.
Compared to light cars in the 1970s, our cars are much heavier (1000-2000 pounds heavier on average), but produce much, much more power from the same amount of gas than engines in the 70s did. Not to mention they are now better looking than the boxes of the 70s.
Basically all the extra efficiency our engines now have is pretty much wasted by the fact that we're hauling around so much extra weight. If we lighten our cars a bit and then stop this silly addiction to "power" (really acceleration), we'd be a long ways closer to practical cars that get 100 MPG right now. That'd pave the way for mass appeal of cars like this VW concept.
I'm not sure what the big deal about safety is. Indy car drivers walk away from 200 mph crashes, and their cars are 1500 pounds, about half the weight of a standard American car. Safety doesn't come from weight alone, it comes from engineering for safety. The car will be safe, or unsafe, depending on how it's engineered.
In any case, looks much less dangerous than a motorcycle, and tens of millions of people drive those. Looks like it will easy to park in the city, too.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
I must disagree. In my experience, people who are considering or who already own SUVs due to their perceived safety generally think that, in the event of a two-vehicle accident, the other guy is essentially on his own. If he gets the worst of it due to having a smaller car, it's his own fault for not having also bought an SUV. I've never heard anyone say "I've never thought of that!" after being asked about the other guy in a hypothetical accident.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.