Volkswagen to sell $25,900 258 mpg car in 2010

MitchJi

MitchJi

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Hi,

Edit Correction (thanks Russell) :oops: :oops: :
Russell said:
More like $25,900 according to THIS story;

http://www.energyboom.com/rumors-and-reality-about-volkswagens-258-mpg-car
energyboom said:
Volkswagen is calling it the world’s most economical car but the price tag is not going to be $600. Reports say it will be more like $25,900 and that VW will be making a limited number for release in 2010.

It seats 2 people and is made from carbon fiber so it’s super light at just 290 kg or 638 pounds. The body is flat and narrow, and even includes a little bit of storage space.
Click to expand...
-R
Click to expand...

Should make an excellent EV conversion.

http://www.examiner.com/x-8310-Trendy-Living-Examiner~y2009m7d6-Volkswagens-600-car-gets-258-mpg
supermileage.jpg

Volkswagen's $600 car gets 258 mpg

This $600 car is no toy and is ready to be released in China next year.

The single seater aero car totes VW (Volkswagen) branding.

Volkswagen did a lot of very highly protected testing of this car in Germany, but it was not announced until now where the car would make it's first appearance.

The car was introduced at the VW stockholders meeting as the most economical car in the world is presented.

The initial objective of the prototype was to prove that 1 liter of fuel could deliver 100 kilos of travel.
Click to expand...
supermileage2.jpg


The aero design proved essential to getting the desired result. The body is 3.47 meters long and just 1.25 meters wide, and a little over a meter high. The prototype was made completely of carbon fiber and is not painted to save weight.

The power plant is a one cylinder diesel positioned ahead of the rear axle and combined with an automatic shift controlled by a knob in the interior.

Safety was not compromised as the impact and roll-over protection is comparable to the GT racing cars.
Click to expand...
vw258mpg2(1).jpg

Will be selling for 4000 yuan, equivalent to US$600..

Gas tank capacity = 1.7 gallons 

Speed = 62 ? 74.6 Miles/hour

Fuel efficiency = 258 miles/gallon

Travel distance with a full tank = 404 miles
Click to expand...
 
No crash test in china. Might be sellable in other countries, Mexico, India, etc.

Second passenger would cost ya about 200 mpg. :lol: Still damn cool though.
 
MitchJi said:
Hi,

Should make an excellent EV conversion.
Click to expand...

Yes that makes sense, take a car that gets 258mpg pile it with batteris so it gets less than half the distance on a charge that takes 4-8 hours...

"Safety was not compromised as the impact and roll-over protection is comparable to the GT racing cars."

Drop the diesel whack a hyabusa motor in it and you would have one fast little car thats still hugely economical
and apparently pretty safe when you roll it :mrgreen:

KiM
 
If it was anywhere near that price in real life, I'd wet my pants. :shock: They're designing it out of carbon fiber - last time I checked, it wasn't that cheap.

A second passenger, if put in tandem, wouldn't compromise aerodynamics and the percentage weight increase would be fairly negligible so you'd still maintain some pretty good travel efficiency - at least 150 mpg on the highway. Social seating(side by side) would probably reduce the mpg by half or more.

Since this is apparently designed for the Chinese market, I don't know if an American body would fit. :p If it did though, I would love to electrify it. You'd get an insane amount of range off a pretty small battery pack (Well under $5000 for something that'd last 8+ years and get at least 300 miles per charge.).

Searching Google, it appears this has tale tale signs of a rumor. It's been known about since early last year and no mention has yet been made of it from "official channels". I'm guessing this is another one of those "back-up" cards that an auto-maker might play to profit from a possible future gas price spike. Otherwise, it may never materialize.
 
No crash test in china. Might be sellable in other countries, Mexico, India, etc.
Click to expand...
-dogman

As a business decision, if you add up the populations of China and India, that accounts for over half the people in the world (IIRC). I remember about a year ago when pics of this car began showing up on the web. I like it, but even in China I seriously doubt it will sell as low as $600 (with or without carbon-fiber).

That being said, I want to see thousands of these on the road providing real-world data...
 
I really like it. If it can make it to America sometime in the future, which I highly doubt, it might be a decent viable form of transport. If it's a 3-wheeled platform, much like the zap electric truck(zebra?) the insurance on it should be rather low also(classifying it as a motorcycle IIRC). If this, or something similar came to America, I would definitely start saving my pocket change to purchase one...lol. But I highly doubt philly would allow one of these on the road.
 
If this ever materialized and assuming it materialized in a place like China and not America, I'd probably just import it. I have no idea how it would get registered given all the red tape with automobiles. :?
 
The whole story there doesn't add up.


Smells strongly of hoax to me.
 
Even if the story doesn't add up, the mpg figures sound plausible. So, something like this would be a dream and seems like it may become reality given certain economic conditions.

In a "normal" car, it seemed a turbodiesel could get something like 60 mpg. Half the frontal area and half the C_d, and you just reduced drag by a fourth making it more like 240 mpg*.

*(I don't know if diesel engine efficiency scales this well, but I know an electric motor would.)

Btw, loremo has a car out with 120 mpg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loremo#Petrol_and_Diesel_vehicles
It appears like it might have roughly twice the frontal area of the VW car.
 
AussieJester said:
MitchJi said:
Hi,

Should make an excellent EV conversion.
Click to expand...

Yes that makes sense, take a car that gets 258mpg pile it with batteris so it gets less than half the distance on a charge that takes 4-8 hours...
Click to expand...

5+kwh of battery = 100-200 pounds for batteries, boohoo. :roll:

Just in case you haven't noticed, aerodynamics is the real range killer in long distance travel.
 
swbluto said:
5+kwh of battery = 100-200 pounds for batteries, boohoo. :roll:

Just in case you haven't noticed, aerodynamics is the real range killer in long distance travel.
Click to expand...

As i said makes perfect sense to spend thousands on batteries to convert a car with exceptional fuel economy slower with a shorter range... :roll: ...think you will actually find the real killer on range is ...the batteries, the most aerodynamic car in the world aint going 2 feet without batteries... boohoo :roll:

Sensible thing would be to make it a hybrid, spending money to IMPROVE fuel economy and range makes sense...

KiM
 
AussieJester said:
swbluto said:
5+kwh of battery = 100-200 pounds for batteries, boohoo. :roll:

Just in case you haven't noticed, aerodynamics is the real range killer in long distance travel.
Click to expand...

As i said makes perfect sense to spend thousands on batteries to convert a car with exceptional fuel economy slower with a shorter range... :roll: ...think you will actually find the real killer on range is ...the batteries, the most aerodynamic car in the world aint going 2 feet without batteries... boohoo :roll:

Sensible thing would be to make it a hybrid, spending money to IMPROVE fuel economy and range makes sense...

KiM
Click to expand...

What's most economical would lead to the conclusion to leave it the way it is (12,000 miles = 60 gallons of fuel = $200/year. The sheer price of batteries and their lifespan will never beat that at current prices, however it may with short distances.). However, what's "most sensible" is subjective and it's clear you and I differ in our sensibilities.

Personally, I prefer stillness over vibration, I prefer clean air over pollution, I prefer silence to noise, I prefer not waiting in lines to 'refill' and I prefer not to financially support middle eastern despots nor terrorists.
 
Personally, I prefer stillness over vibration, I prefer clean air over pollution, I prefer silence to noise, I prefer not waiting in lines to 'refill' and I prefer not to financially support middle eastern despots nor terrorists.

copy that

Add I prefer Old age to early death.
I prefer not to financially support the proliferation of toxic fossil fuels or products.
I prefer not to posion the kids.
I prefer low or no maintenance to high maintentance and cost.

and evs start to look pretty ripe.

mike
 
Mileage sounds right.

One of my mopeds I checked got a easy 139 MPG. If I tried, I could probably get 150 MPG like the manufacture said it could get. And that is a inefficient 2 stroke using 1970's technology.

Not going to happen at $600, a decent moped cost over $800.00. And all that is, a glorified bicycle with a 49CC engine.

Deron.
 
deronmoped said:
Mileage sounds right.

One of my mopeds I checked got a easy 139 MPG. If I tried, I could probably get 150 MPG like the manufacture said it could get. And that is a inefficient 2 stroke using 1970's technology.

Not going to happen at $600, a decent moped cost over $800.00. And all that is, a glorified bicycle with a 49CC engine.

Deron.
Click to expand...
Thats funny My 69 Honda pc 50 got excatly 139 mpg (cdn or normal gallons =4.54 litres not your americal gallon @ 3.8 litres lol) But it was mad in 1969 and used a carb and push rods and old tech everything and had me a big guy sitting up in the wind not areo dynamic at all! SO I would belive 258 us mpg is possible or even if its a normal gallon its a big number and its awesome! But yeh this thing is another internet email half informed hoax kinda thing, like the car that hit head on with a semi and everyone kept sending it to me titled "still want a smart car?" saying it was a smart car, when you could see a vw emblem in the center of the wheels! :roll: The world is changing and if I would bet on anything I would say ebikes are here to stay!
 
hydro-one said:
Personally, I prefer stillness over vibration, I prefer clean air over pollution, I prefer silence to noise, I prefer not waiting in lines to 'refill' and I prefer not to financially support middle eastern despots nor terrorists.

copy that

Add I prefer Old age to early death.
I prefer not to financially support the proliferation of toxic fossil fuels or products.
I prefer not to posion the kids.
I prefer low or no maintenance to high maintentance and cost.

and evs start to look pretty ripe.

mike
Click to expand...

I prefer an e-bike. They make sense for 90% of my transportation right now.
 
a friend of mine is working on this car to get it ready for massproduction...

as long as i remember VW said 2012 will be SOP
 
RoughRider said:
a friend of mine is working on this car to get it ready for massproduction...

as long as i remember VW said 2012 will be SOP
Click to expand...
I'll eat my hat if VW ever introduces their carbon-fiber 1-liter car into mass production.
 
Damn, why aren't more cars this shape. I mean even big Semi tractor trailers should be this shape. I second the busa or zx14 swop!
 
John in CR said:
hydro-one said:
Personally, I prefer stillness over vibration, I prefer clean air over pollution, I prefer silence to noise, I prefer not waiting in lines to 'refill' and I prefer not to financially support middle eastern despots nor terrorists.

copy that

Add I prefer Old age to early death.
I prefer not to financially support the proliferation of toxic fossil fuels or products.
I prefer not to posion the kids.
I prefer low or no maintenance to high maintentance and cost.

and evs start to look pretty ripe.

mike
Click to expand...

I prefer an e-bike. They make sense for 90% of my transportation right now.
Click to expand...

If only everyone lived on a tropical island. :lol:
 
I would ABSOLUTELY buy that for 26k. I heard elsewhere it will be more like 40-60k though... which is more believable. Great winter beater:D
 
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