By Marcus Salek, Prague
While Detroit and George Bush talk about cars that get 35 miles per gallon in 10 years, Europe produces cars that typically get 40 miles per gallon now.
Americans would be surprised to know that the Europeans have already designed a low priced car using existing non-hybrid technology that will get 157 mpg.
The concept is refreshingly simple: make an ultra-efficient car that’s light, has exceptionally low drag, and sips diesel with a small engine. This is the Loremo AG, a car that is a combination of innovative technology and back-to-basics thinking.
To be shown at the upcoming car show in Geneva, this German creation claims a fuel economy of 157 mpg with no fancy hybrid drive train, fuel cells, or plug in paraphernalia.
Weighing less than a thousand pounds, the sporty rear-wheel drive 4-seater is designed to be maximally aerodynamic. the Loremo sports a modest 2-cylinder, 20 hp turbo diesel motor, has a top speed of 100 mph, and does 0-60 in ten seconds. If that sounds like less than elite performance, the anticipated $13,000 price tag should put it in a bit more perspective.
While Detroit and George Bush talk about cars that get 35 miles per gallon in 10 years, Europe produces cars that typically get 40 miles per gallon now.
Americans would be surprised to know that the Europeans have already designed a low priced car using existing non-hybrid technology that will get 157 mpg.
The concept is refreshingly simple: make an ultra-efficient car that’s light, has exceptionally low drag, and sips diesel with a small engine. This is the Loremo AG, a car that is a combination of innovative technology and back-to-basics thinking.
To be shown at the upcoming car show in Geneva, this German creation claims a fuel economy of 157 mpg with no fancy hybrid drive train, fuel cells, or plug in paraphernalia.Weighing less than a thousand pounds, the sporty rear-wheel drive 4-seater is designed to be maximally aerodynamic. the Loremo sports a modest 2-cylinder, 20 hp turbo diesel motor, has a top speed of 100 mph, and does 0-60 in ten seconds. If that sounds like less than elite performance, the anticipated $13,000 price tag should put it in a bit more perspective.
The Loremo is due to come onto the European market in 2009. :: Loremo AG via I4U News
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/02/loremo_ag_157_m.php
Here is a list of 2008 European cars that get between 47.1 and 65.7 mpg that are not available in the US. http://www.guardian.co.uk/cars/story/0,15383,1357788,00.html
Here is a study comparing the millage of the SAME car sold both sold in the United States and Europe. The only difference is the Engine. The European car gets 60% more gas millage.
http://gas-cost.net/index.php#20070604
So fellow Americans, your government has been keeping car millage down for 30 years even though the technology exists today to improve it without any further research and development
The US Government pulled the wool over our eyes by funding bogus alternative energy programs to their corporate buddies to create the illusion that they are doing something to improve gas millage. They are not. They are doing everything possible to keep Americans driving cars with bad gas mileage.
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Blogger addendum:
It's great to have so many comments. Typically European cars express millage in liters per 100 km. All gas millage conversions in the articles were done from liters to US gallons. For example my Skoda Octavia in the summer with summer tires and AC gets 4.8 liters per 100 Km. That converts into 49 Mpg. The Skoda handles like a sports car. It is not a small car. It is similar to a VW Passat. I have a 2005 model which is essentially the same as the 2008 with upgraded styling. In short, the larger cars also get very good millage, not just the sub-compacts.
13 comments:
Our 1979 diesel rabbit got 45 mpg. That was nearly twenty years ago. That was my response when some guy bragged to me that his new hybrid gets 40/45 mpg...
15 years ago I asked Chrysler where I could buy a Diesel Voyager passenger van. At that time it was very popular in Europe, particularly the Netherlands. I was told emphatically that they didnt make one !!
For some years I have wondered why diesels where not readily available if at all in the US.
There are many other exaples such as KIA's Euro Sedona - a turbo diesel which gives just the same power but at 1/2 the mpg.
Yet they produce a massive and unneccesary 6 litre one for 'mini' trucks (Ford F 250 etc)which would be hard pressed to need the power given the absurdity of the speed limitations here.
Recently Opel produced a couple off test cars which ran at over 100 mph and used 100 mpg for 24 hrs.
A caveat here it has to be remebered that a 'US' gallon is only 80% of a Euro one.
Short changed and conned yet again America ?
I seeem to remember a former President and Congress passing a Bill in the 90's mandating US automakers to acheive a 35mpg car/engine by the year 2000.
i also seem to remember with only 1 year to go before the law came into force a certain GW Bush invalidating that law (1999)!!
Just playing politics by the moron who rules?
As for ethanol - another political sop which is succeding in driving up fuel prices.
Whils this may be viable using other crops such as sugar cane.
It takes 1 unit of enegy to produce 1.3 units of ethanol from corn. but just look at the scam stock artists who make money from the myth and too what cost to the general population.
I saw my first $5.00 loak off bread the other day !
Nice wheels! But we've got an answer, made right here in the USA. Check out aptera.com - same concepts of light weight and low drag, they claim an astounding 230 plus MPG. Of course, that's for a two-seater - the picture you show looks like a family car. But Aptera is in production, with some 500 orders placed already, and I believe it will be available in 2008. They are offering two models - an all-electric, and a plug-in hybrid using a small generator to run the electric motors. This puzzles me somewhat, as the hybrid will have a smaller battery pack in order to make room for the generator in the same compartment - meaning less range. Still, I don't really need the claimed 120 mile all-electric range most days, and I would like the option of taking trips out of town without having to buy two cars. But I don't see why they couldn't alter the design just a bit to give us the best of both worlds. Also, it's going to come in at a price more than double the $13000 you mention. Nonetheless, the point is that it is not only possible to break the low-mileage stranglehold of big auto/big oil, it's happening on the ground even as we type. Check out their site and see what you think. Also, the latest Popular Mechanics has a nice write-up on them.
Oops, P.S. disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the company in any way.
I had a 1992 honda civic VX,these cars were only made from 92-95,,it was rated at 45mpg city and 55 highway,it was a 4 cylinder gas motor 1.5 with a different cylinder head on it than a regular 1.5 in all other hondas',,this tech was in 92'...i'm sure they have come a long way since then.It's all about big business and government working together to fleece us as much as possible.
Let's put the blame where blame is due. Anyone could import these high mileage European cars but for environmentalists, also great tools of the NWO.
A caveat here it has to be remebered that a 'US' gallon is only 80% of a Euro one.
What? Liquid is measured by litres in the EU. And a U.S. gallon is 83.33% of an Imperial gallon, not 80%.
A few things need to be put into perspective here. Firstly, 40+ MPG cars (even US gallons) are available for sale in North America. Most people chose not to buy them. I have owned and operated just about every make and model of car you can think of and I can tell you this, I will always pick a 6 passenger sedan over any tiny, under powered light weight car that is likely to get blown off the road by a good strong wind. At 6 foot 2 inches tall, most cars like Hondas and Volkswagens will, after driven for about a week, destroy my right knee because they are too cramped to sit in or get in and out of properly. At least 6 weeks of the year I will have at least 5 people in my car, if not 6, less than five seats is out of the question. Renting a second car for those occasions makes no sense. 10 trips a year to the airport requires a big trunk, again, small cars are out of the question. Getting elderly people in and out of the back of a small car is much more difficult than a big car, especially in the winter time when every one is wearing heavy coats. Driving 70 to 80 thousand KMs per year requires a comfortable and safe car. Driving 10 hours straight in a small car is far less comfortable and far more fatiguing than in a big sedan.
A few things we have in North America that don’t exist in Europe. Vast distances between cities, hence a 10 hour drive is not unusual. A round trip from my home to my farm is 460KM as an example. Our summers are usually much hotter and require better air conditioning in our car, good AC requires engine power. Last time Europe suffered a heat wave that was really like a typical North American summer, over 30,000 people in France died, due to a lack of air-conditioning. Our typical winters are significantly colder and with significantly more snow. Carrying emergency winter safely kits requires a good size trunk. Small light weight cars are terrible in the snow, always getting stuck and causing all kinds of traffic problems. The absolutely worst car I have ever driven in the snow was an all wheel drive Subaru impreza that I owned for 10 months, I liked the car but t was useless for my needs. It’s the only car I ever managed to get stuck in the snow in. It was also my last attempt at a small reasonably fuel efficient car. Now in the snow I regularly drive past or around all the Hondas, Toyotas and Volkswagens that are stuck in the snow or have been blown off the road in a surprise winter storm. Cars with diesel engines are also over rated, not the technology, but the consumer miss conceptions about the lack of maintenance that is required. Properly maintaining a diesel engine quickly consumes any savings in fuel consumption because of significantly more fuel filters, oil filters, air filters, engine oil and injector servicing versus a gasoline engine. I don’t know about Europe, but here there is a significant premium charged by the car manufacturer for a diesel engine ultimately making gasoline engines the economical choice. I regularly see diesel Volkswagens on the road that are spewing out black soot because the owners don’t think their car needs maintenance. Gasoline engines are significantly cleaner running than diesels.
Currently, my 6 passenger 8 cylinder, 300 HP sedan is a fantastic car. I am very happy with the 32 MPG I get on the highway. Would I like to get better mileage, sure, but I can not give up the 6 passenger capacity or the 300 HP. But, most importantly, the most EFFICIENT vehicle is the vehicle that does what YOU NNED it to do as cost effectively as possible. Here is an example. I rehabilitate forest and swamp land and plant trees, 15,000 trees last year, it’s my hobby. To do this I drive an H2 Hummer, pull a trailer and carry a crew of 5 including my self. We drive deep into the bush, off road, with equipment and trees. Even 1,000 40 MPG cars can not do this, so they are not EFFICIENT where as the Hummer is. To go on about how great Europeans are because of their inefficient vehicles that are largely unsuitable to the realities of driving in North America is ridiculous. Manufacturers build and sell what people buy.
My 2000 diesel Jetta gets 42-48 and it's pretty much stock except for the skid plate, although it's really for those of us that do 15Kmiles+/year and know how to do or track down mechanics that are familiar with the car. Ahemm tdiclub Ahemmm..... I'd buy a used Lupo (1.2l DI diesel) in a heartbeat, even though I can't confirm its passenger load (2 I think). My 7.3 F-250 uses all of it's power and low gearing to pull (4 tons +) a load up some of the grades here. The truck would do a lot better with a secondary hi lo tranny, The speed limits are 80 mph on the interstate and the truck uses up fuel like it's loaded at those speeds. Secondary transmissons ran $3500 +labor when I was looking 3 years ago. Unfortunately it's extra expensive to have so many vehicles, might not always be able to have both and I have to move the machinery and materials...
I have a 2005 VW Passat TDI. I have to say it's the best car I've ever owned. Mileage is great and the performance is excellent.
I have two other cars, a Dodge Truck (gasoline engine) and a Porsche RS America.
I drive the VW most of the time...
I'm still driving an '88 Mercury Tracer that gets 45 mpg consistently. I live in northern VT and have never gotten stuck in snow or mud. It really annoys me that car manufacturers could make cars like this 20 years ago, but pushed huge gas-guzzlers on the stupid public ever since. All new cars should be required to get a minimum of at least 40mpg. Maybe sheeple will finally get sick of this now that they're paying $70. to fill up the tank.
The method that the EPA uses and the Europeans use to calculate fuel oconomy is different. This has resulted in differences in fuel ratings.
A couple of reasons you don't see these milage miricles on the road is that they don't meet US crash standards. And most don't have all the safty features that most US cars have.
The second reason is that the diesels will not pass EPA emision test. Volkswagon had to stop shipping diesels to the US for a short period of time because of this. The EPA required that diesel fuel manufactures reduce the sulfure levels in the fuel. This was done so that the cataltic converters wouldn't get clogged by the sulfur.
Example toyota Prius rated at 4.2L/100Km or 56 MPG.
The US fuel rating is 46 MPG. Same car just different methods of rating the cars fuel economy.
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