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313 Miles Per Gallon? Volkswagen’s XL1 concept car makes this claim
by Marshall Brain | January 27, 2011
Take one gallon of diesel fuel and drive 313 miles – that is the claim of Volkswagen’s XL1 concept car: VW unveils an ultra-efficient car The XL1, which seats two adults, combines a 0.8 litre two cylinder diesel engine with an electric motor. The car is constructed around a carbon fibre reinforced polymer monocoque to [...]
Imagine filling your gas tank in Boston and driving all the way down the east coast to Miami on a single tank of gas. A Volkswagen Passat Bluemotion car with minor modifications has done that: Passat BlueMotion enters record books after going 1,527 miles without refueling; that’s 74.8 mpg What makes it possible for this [...]
Imagine an airplane design so radical that it gets 50% to 70% better fuel economy than today’s passenger jets. Now imagine that this airplane could be made with standard tube-and-wing assembly lines and fit into standard airport gates and runways. That is what MIT is proposing…
In the United States, a vehicle’s fuel efficiency is rated in terms of miles per gallon, or MPG. But is this the best way to calculate fuel economy? Listen in as Scott and Ben explore an alternative measure of fuel efficiency in this podcast.
My hat is off and held humbly in my hands for the subculture of drivers who hypermile. I am something of what you might call an aggressive driver. The fast lane is meant as a pipeline for cars to shoot down at 90 mph past slower drivers who apparently have less to do or fish a lot. Those who don’t observe fast lane rules get a good shot of me in their rear-view mirror, vomiting profanity, my front fender mere inches from their rear bumpers.
This kind of driving calls for a lot of accelerating and decelerating, so I consume gas like I used to mash troves of Slim Jims I’d find hidden behind the good silver into my piehole back when I was a fat kid. Hypermilers are pretty much the exact opposite of me.
Occasionally I’ll get a question (via e-mail) from a High Speed Stuff podcast listener that makes me continue to think about the issue long after the workday has ended. A question that I received from a listener in Minnesota is a good example.
The sender’s name is Dylan and he’s from a rural part of…
By now you’ve probably hard the news that the third-generation Toyota Prius, better known as the 2010 Toyota Prius, will be the most fuel-efficient vehicle you can buy in the United States when it hits the market this June. How fuel efficient? Well, with a combined (city/highway) EPA estimated fuel economy rating of 50 miles per gallon, the 2010 Prius is well ahead of the ever-growing hybrid car competition at this point. There simply aren’t any other hybrid cars available that have reached the 50 mpg threshold…not yet, anyway.
However, being on top in the hybrid car segment isn’t exactly new to Toyota. In fact, according to fueleconomy.gov, the 2009 Toyota Prius is listed as the current model year’s most efficient EPA certified vehicle achieving 48 mpg in the city, 45 miles per gallon on the highway for a combined mileage average of 46 miles per gallon. So, how did Toyota further refine this already fuel-efficient sedan?
In an effort to get every possible bit of fuel efficiency out of a hybrid car, auto manufacturers pay careful attention to the details. Aside from the gas engine and electric motor combination found under the hood, a hybrid’s weight and aerodynamics play a significant role, too. Most people understand why these factors are important in a fuel-efficient design; however…
You asked: What is the most gas efficient vehicle? —Sara, Bastrop, La. Marshall answered: This is a hard one to answer, because there are a couple of different ways to define it. Do you mean the most efficient street-legal gasoline vehicle that a normal person can buy at a normal car showroom (and if so, [...]
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