240 Mpg

[future pather]

Or a mere 170 mpg at 100 miles per hour


A one-liter car? This moniker describes a car that uses one liter of fuel—about a quarter of a gallon—to propel a car for 100 kilometers, or 62 miles. The one-liter car’s fuel economy translates to almost 240 mpg, and VW has had such a car in its sights for some time now. In 2002, outgoing VW CEO Ferdinand Piëch, now head of the company’s supervisory board, drove a cigar-shaped prototype from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg to a shareholders’ meeting in Hamburg.

Now the idea of the one-liter car has been resurrected. VW’s biggest news at the Frankfurt auto show was the L1 concept, a prototype that "is close to production" and "will be developed," the company says. Three ingredients were needed to make it happen: a supremely efficient powertrain, great aerodynamics, and lightweight engineering.

As to the powertrain, VW has opted for a two-cylinder, 39-hp turbo-diesel engine combined with a 14-hp electric motor. There is a stop/start system and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The L1 can reach 100 mph, but fuel economy at that speed drops to a shameful 1.38 liters per 100 kilometers, or 170 mpg . .

Volkswagen L1 Concept on Yahoo! Autos – Pictures, News

[Cloxxki]

I think it's beautiful!
From Switzerland there have been similar sit-in-row vehicles, but those were more cumbersome motorcycles. The L1 with 4 wheels seems to be much more viable. And, if they indeed hold out till 2013 to get it into production, I would not be surprised to see an Asian manufacturer beat them to the market, with a very similar 1-litre car.
Such a car is of course only the start. Once someone makes a 200% efficient HHO on demand system, soon the engine will follow to allow to have some power to spare to send to the wheels. A car that suffices with 29k, that helps a lot. Less eficiency required to break the barrier of self-sustained on-water propulsion.
Until then, the Prius is like a thirty big-oil excuse for an environmentally vehicle.

VW has great vision. They found a hiatus in the performance of other supercars, and made the Veyron. The car that is uneventful to drive at top speed, even if it's 407kph. I won't get far on a full tank that way though, as the engine is about as efficient as a liquid pump during normal operation than a man emptying a bathtub using a 10-litre bucket.
With this L1 they finally make an truly slippery vehicle, that will actually work in day to day traffic. I wouldn't be surprised to seen them offer a "sport version" that still kicks every other brand's "green" cars for fuel economy, while offering speeds over 200kph, as required to not feel like you're holding up traffic on the German Autobahn network.

Until someone makes an HHO on demand family car with 100bhp, getting similar mileage as today's petrol cars, but usign water, aerodynamics will be key to save fuel (costs), and still get performance.
I once made a sketch of an in-row cigar style bicycle. It would be hugely long and uncomfortable, but easily capable of sportscar like top speeds. Frontal surface is (almost) everything. Rolling resistance is proportionate to mass*velocity. Air drag ramps up exponentially, thus always worth addressing. 50bhp to go 150km/h, 100bhp to go 200km/h, 1000bhp to go 407km/h.

[Cloxxki]

Nothing to see here, double post.

[Aaron]

high mileage

Good find Jessica!

I believe VW has in production already some cars that get over 80MPG but the United States won't let them in.

With this super high mileage prototype, Peter has been saying for a long time that a super small diesel engine is definitely one way to go and this sure shows it.

[future pather]

I find it interesting that 2002 is a year referenced in the article ("In 2002, outgoing VW CEO Ferdinand Piëch, now head of the company’s supervisory board, drove a cigar-shaped prototype from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg to a shareholders’ meeting in Hamburg.") and that is the same year wikipedia sites that hemp started being used (again) for auto panels:

Composite materials

A mixture of fiberglass, hemp fiber, kenaf, and flax has been used since 2002 to make composite panels for automobiles.[4][25] The choice of which bast fiber to use is primarily based on cost and availability.

Hemp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Especially considering:

YouTube - Car made from hemp henry ford

YouTube - Henry Ford & Rudolf Diesel Against Petroleum Part 1

Hopefully the strength of the material makes safety less of an issue with a lighter car.

[Aaron]

hemp car

That is awesome about the hemp panels. Heard about the Ford one but never saw a video clip until you posted that.

But of course both republican and democrat administrations claim it would "send a bad message" if we started growing hemp for such uses - the generic most ridiculous excuse they all use.

If Obama supported growing non thc hemp for industrial use, it would show he is really green and really for progress in my opinion.

Pharmaceuticals and Petroleum industry make too much profit by having hemp illegal and I don't foresee anytime soon that any administration will act sensibly on this issue.

[Iotayodi]

Looks like a 3 wheeler which wont fly in the States. Not a practical design for safety or looks from what I see.

[future pather]

I don't think it's a three wheeler. From the side views the back wheel(s) appear very near the outsides. Also hard to imagine the article being specific about front wheel drive and referring to it as a car and failing to mention it having only three wheels.

Not sure how strong the composite panels are discussed above but we know the potential is at least 10x stronger than steel. Given that people drive motorcycles on the highway, and more and more minis and small electric cars are at least on the streets, if not the highways, why stop this one?

[future pather]

(Here's the slide show link if anyone didn't notice it

Volkswagen L1 Concept - Gallery )

[Aaron]

VW Polo Bluemotion Diesel 70+mpg

VW Polo BlueMotion Tops 70 MPG | GreenCar.com

This shows 70MPG, but there are some that get over 85MPG, maybe with mods, not sure. In either case, this is sold in Europe as we speak and it isn't even a hybrid. VW says there are no plans to see this in the US at this piont, but why? As if nobody would be interested?

VW Polo BlueMotion Tops 70 MPG

by Todd Kaho
06/23/2008


The speed limit on the stretch of Autobahn we're driving is 120 km and we are rolling with traffic well beyond this speed. That 120 km limit is roughly 74 mph, or about the top end of what most Americans will drive on free-flowing highways. Even at this speed, our mount is squeezing almost 70 miles from every gallon of fuel. This isn't an exotic prototype hybrid or experimental future car. Rather, we're behind the wheel of a production Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion powered by a 1.4-liter three-cylinder TDI diesel.

On a recent trip to Wolfsburg, Germany, Green Car had the opportunity to experience the depth of Volkswagen's clean diesel expertise. In addition to the U.S. spec 2.0 liter clean diesel TDI Jetta, we also sampled Volkswagen's wonderful 3.0 liter V-6 TDI in a Phaeton and a Euro-spec BlueMotion 1.9 TDI in a Golf. The car that really caught our attention, though, was the BlueMotion Polo TDI. Polo is a five-passenger hatchback positioned in the VW line between the Golf (Rabbit in the U.S.) and the subcompact Lupo.



The BlueMotion Polo trumps the most sophisticated hybrids when it comes to fuel economy. The standard Polo 1.4 TDI rates 41 mpg city and 62 mpg highway fuel economy for the European driving cycle. The BlueMotion package, with its taller gearing, low rolling resistance tires, and aerodynamic tuning, manages an incredible 48 mpg city and 74 mpg highway ratings. VW pegs the mileage at 3.8 liters per 100 kilometers traveled, which works out to 62 mpg for combined driving in the EU tests.

This car is fun to drive, too. VW dropped taller ratios in the gearbox and the small displacement three-cylinder does exhibit some turbo lag. But once you know where to find the power the Polo BlueMotion can be hustled right along, thanks to the diesel's inherent torque advantage. The sweet spot is just above 1,500 rpm, just before peak torque is achieved. The 1.4 liter TDI produces 80 horsepower at 4,000 rpm and 143 lbs-ft of torque at just 1,800 rpm. To put that 80 horsepower in perspective, consider that the original diesel Rabbit offered just 50 horsepower.



Acceleration is adequate. VW says the Polo BlueMotion will go from 0-100 kmh (62 mph) in 12.8 seconds. With the tall gearing and abundant torque, top speed is 176 kmh, or 109 mph. We didn't have a chance to test this number, but did see 150 kmh (93 mph) on the Autobahn a few times in an effort to maintain a safe traffic flow and the little Polo had plenty left. Naturally, this isn't the type of driving that extracts better than 70 mpg, which is easily obtainable when cruising at a steady 100 kmh.

Wondering about the name BlueMotion? The "blue" refers to the color found in VW's logo and represents the color of the earth when seen from space, air, and water. Adding 'motion' blends the concept of sustainable mobility moving forward into the future.



Now for the real shocker: the Polo BlueMotion is super clean, producing less C02 than a Toyota Prius ... and it does this without a hybrid's advantage of shutting off the engine while stopped. The Polo BlueMotion has both quick reacting oxidation catalytic converter and a diesel particulate filter. CO2 is just 99g/km; the Prius produces 104g/km.

VW currently has no plans to bring the hyper-efficient Polo BlueMotion to the North American market. If it did, this model would be a bit pricy for this vehicle class, but the reward of exceptional fuel economy would be, in our opinion, well worth the premium. Would the most economical five seater in Europe play well in America? We say, 'bring it on!'

[Iotayodi]

Slideshow does show 4 wheels so it would fly. The VW Polo BlueMotion would sell like hot cakes too. The government would lose multibillions in fuel taxes as well as the Oil cartels. They cant have that!
Slay the Dragon!

[future pather]

. . .Or at least morph the dragon.

So is someone in the US allowed to buy these cars and have them shipped here? It could be worth it.

The VW L1 won't be right for everyone but the other looks very standard for a compact.

As far as helping the government, if the fed allows and taxes hemp and people start using it for fuel (again) among its other uses, that might help a lot.


"Major current producers of hemp fibre include India, China, Russia, Korea, Romania and Hungary, where the cultivation of hemp has never been prohibited. Since 1992, the EU had passed legislation to commercially cultivate low-THC hemp along with subsidies including France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Germany. The EU has established a THC threshold in an attempt to distinguish between agricultural hemp varieties and marijuana. For hemp farmers, a THC ceiling of 0.2 percent on hemp varieties is allowed to be cultivated in Europe. . .

It can grow just about anywhere without the need for fertilisers or toxic chemical pesticides or insecticides and grows to 12 to 15 feet in just 90 days. Products made from agricultural hemp falls into 3 major categories, food, fibre and fuel.

Welcome to The House of Hemp

And from Wikipedia

Filtered hemp oil can be used directly to power diesels. In 1892, Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel engine, which he intended to fuel "by a variety of fuels, especially vegetable and seed oils."

Hemp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia