VW's 282 MPG Super Fuel Efficient Car

Not sure what’s with me and transport today but, with the economy taking a huge dive and car sales dwindling, it’s rather comical watching all the car companies rallying to try and drum up business. It’s not the sudden deluge of 0% interest offers or even the planting of trees in totally unnatural corn row fashion in undisclosed locations. Nope, the thing that gets me is when they tout their mpg figures.  So that’s what got me thinking “is 46 mpg the best we can do?” I mean, it’s better than the average 10 mpg Hummer, but when my BFF visited from London recently she could not believe that car companies were patting themselves on the back for a “28 mpg” job well done! So, I dug around a little and here’s what I found out…

The current US figures (for the most popular models) can be found here. For the UK equivalent, I headed over to fuel-economy.co.uk and took a peek at what is classed as acceptable there these days. Take a look at some of the UK figures below for a comparison:

UK Most Fuel Efficient Cars (note the abundance of diesel powered vehicles):

and UK’s most fuel efficient gasoline (petrol) cars:

OK, OK, so I know that the UK gallon is about 20% larger than the US one (go figure!), but even so, those of you lucky enough to possess a sharp mathematical mind should recognise that the numbers are still shamefully low on this side of the pond.

However, if you really want a glimpse of where it’s going, then you need to read this recent treehugger article. It features the Limited Edition 1 Litre car that Volkswagon are working on and that is touted to do a whopping 282 mpg!

The VW 282 MPG Super Fuel Efficient Car has has been around in prototype form since 2002 and “green types” everywhere have been drooling at its 282 miles per gallon fuel economy (or 1 litre of gasoline per 100 kilometers, hence the name). So, VW has finally decided to make more and sell them, and a limited edition (estimated in the thousands) should start selling in 2010.

With a body made from carbon composites and weighing in at only 660 pounds it is shaped to be extremely slippery, giving it a coefficient of drag of only 0.16 (“the average car comes in around 0.30 and the Honda Insight had a Cd of 0.25″). The prototype was powered by a 1-cylinder diesel engine, but the production model should have a 2-cylinder diesel, and maybe even a stop-start anti-idling feature (to cut the engine when the car is stopped).

I recommend you to all hop over and read the full article – it’s really quite amazing. The fact that it could also run on algae-biodiesel is again a HUGE plus. We featured this alternative energy source a few weeks ago and had a huge response from our readers asking why this isn’t being pushed as a major new alternative energy source by our current leadership.

Well, the answer is probably what it always is….money. However, I for one can see the day when we can grow our own endless supply of eco-friendly fuel and not feel guilty when driving to the mountains or when stuck in commute traffic. It just won’t be quite yet.