What is Digg?Sponsored by newegg
Tired of paying the man? Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle 41 MPG highway view!
newegg.com - Enter for your chance to win Smart Prize Packages from WD and Newegg.
128 Comments
- DireWolf11, on 09/14/2009, -1/+48there are people who weigh more than this VW
- biofriendlyblog, on 09/14/2009, -1/+43170 MPG works for me :)
- CaptainPlanet, on 09/14/2009, -7/+42bet the oil industry will prevent this one from hitting the market in the USA
- korzon, on 09/15/2009, -0/+33"The idea behind it was the form of a glider–one seat behind the other"
You mean I get to put my wife in the backseat and it's all in the name of the environment? I'm SOLD. - jerryjamesstone, on 09/15/2009, -0/+28Well, you know how many people commute with only them in the car. If it could hit a decent price point...could be a good commuter car.
- Projektorboy, on 09/15/2009, -1/+23Dear USA,
Diesel is NOT a 4-letter word. Get your ***** together.
Love, Projektorboy. - Devrdander, on 09/15/2009, -0/+19Not pratical for who? 90% of my driving is just me. I live alone, and have to work random hours due to being on call and salary, so car pooling it very tough. Last person i car pooled with got sick of getting stuck at the office till 6, and I got sick of getting up at 3am to take a support call and not be able to sleep an extra hour in the morning and go in at 9... So I would love this. This would be ideal for the american market where the majority of people drive alone to and from work everyday.
- duke, on 09/15/2009, -0/+16About damn time. Diesels are so much more efficient than gasoline engines, I've been wondering when someone would finally make a diesel hybrid. Good grief, our railroads have been powered by diesel-electric locomotives for, what, 3/4 of a century now? It's a perfect pairing because it plays to the relative strengths and weaknesses of diesel power. Diesels are comparatively bad at acceleration, but the electric power compensates. Diesels are most efficient running at steady speeds, which works great for spinning a generator.
- nickaster, on 09/14/2009, -0/+16The Hypercar Cometh
- emecks, on 09/14/2009, -1/+16Something Citroënesque about it in profile… But 170mpg? Vrrrrroooooooom
- AmyVernon, on 09/14/2009, -6/+18Too bad it's a two-seater. Not very practical. But rather attractive in a 1950s science fiction sort of way.
- TheCosmicFool, on 09/15/2009, -0/+12Yeah but how many MPG do they get?
- jerryjamesstone, on 09/14/2009, -0/+11Me too, I want one.
- jerryjamesstone, on 09/14/2009, -0/+9Yah, would be great to see this.
- dubjah, on 09/15/2009, -0/+8You can get more diesel from a barrel of crude oil than you can gasoline.
VW/Audi/Mercedes new clean diesel technology has come a very long way from the diesel Golfs/Rabbits of the 80s.
Just because your thinking is outmoded doesn't mean the technology is. - Spuy767, on 09/15/2009, -2/+10It will actually be the fact that an 800 lb car is either A) Made out of exotic materials such that it will be prohibitively expensive or B) unable to have the structural integrity to pass Euro NCAP let alone NHSTA crash testing. I'd wager we'll see a much heavier version with all the bells and whistles, I doubt this unit has any amenities, that probably gomes close to triple digit fuel economy.
- CharlesMay, on 09/15/2009, -1/+9Because it doesn't really work and they're banking on December 2012 coming true.
- JHW539, on 09/15/2009, -0/+7Two-seaters are VERY practical in this country of two (or more) car families. Ask ANY guy who cashed in on his midlife crisis to put a Vette or Porsche in the garage.
Guy says:"It'll make my commute fun, we can use it on date nights, and we still have the minivan!"
Wife hears:"If you give me crap about this toy I'm going to start banging my secretary."
Two seater win/win! - miket, on 09/15/2009, -0/+7yet we can get 400 pound motorcycles with upwards of 200hp easy :)
- altgeeky1, on 09/15/2009, -0/+7mbraynard,
You seem to miss the GP's point which is based in FACT: the oil companies DO own strategic patents in the electric motor and battery fields.
Chevron Oil in particular holds patents on large-scale battery packs as a fuel for vehicles, AND does not manufacture anything of merit in this field AND they set prohibitive licensing conditions (basically you would have to start the electric production line up at millions of units on 'day 1').
Chevron, etc are not a secret conspiracy because it's NOT a secret:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_encumbrance_of ...
I don't blame Chevron... they have a legal "shareholder value" obligation to keep the world on oil for as long as possible, and that means playing dirty. Ethically and morally this is wrong and it screws our future, but if Chevron does NOT play dirty like this the board can be sued by the shareholders. Only private companies can be angelic.
I also have to call you out on your comments. You seem to go out of your way to contribute as little as possible to the conversation, clinging to the easiest possible answer which is ignorance. You grasp so little of the facts that you have to demagogue everything, ESPECIALLY science, because that is what is easiest for you. This you do while being as offensive as humanly possible.
Please stop being a douche. - ManUnitdFan, on 09/15/2009, -0/+7I used to drive a 2000 Jetta TDI. It was clean, quiet, and got 50 mpg. Diesel's come a long way; you should look into it.
- temsi, on 09/15/2009, -0/+6Here in America that'll be fine. Put an average couple in it, and it's up to 1200 pounds.
- hoffmann277, on 09/15/2009, -2/+8You're the wasteful type that drives a trucks around all the time by themselves without using a truck for its intended purpose.
- kurttrail, on 09/15/2009, -0/+6You're the selfish type that thinks that as long as you can afford to be wasteful, then it's OK to be wasteful.
- Quaterni0n, on 09/15/2009, -0/+6MPB: Miles Per Burger
- LordZeal, on 09/15/2009, -5/+11Too bad this car wouldn't make it in the USA. I would be scared to death of the soccer mom behind me in the 5000lb. SUV she's driving.
- dubjah, on 09/15/2009, -0/+5The Smart Car is a two-seater, and gets 33 MPG in the city, 41 MPG on the highway.
I think they're going to have to seriously up the ante to compete with this VW when it hits the market.
This is the beauty of competition. - nicc, on 09/15/2009, -0/+5is that why my 7 month old TDI gets comparable mpg #s to a Prius?
- inactive, on 09/15/2009, -0/+5I want one!
- ChestRawkwell, on 09/15/2009, -0/+5People, it's only a concept. How many concept cars actually become production cars? It's supposed to look crazy and only weigh 800lbs. Even the Volt doesn't look like the original concept.
- linagee, on 09/15/2009, -0/+5I would burn dinosaur farts if it meant cheaper $/mile.
- etx313, on 09/15/2009, -0/+5We get it. It's just impossible to get one here unless its a vw tdi.
- theghoul, on 09/15/2009, -0/+4Looks like a "conveyance" from Demolition Man.
- breadfred, on 09/15/2009, -0/+4Wait till she starts kicking you in the back.
- linagee, on 09/15/2009, -1/+5If it works in concept now, why do we have to wait 4 years for it?
- Ramble, on 09/15/2009, -0/+4Is that when the last diesel car was sold in the US.
Come to Europe and have a look at some modern diesels. - foofiejnooner, on 09/15/2009, -2/+6Concept.
- jimmarch1, on 09/15/2009, -0/+4The reason you want a Diesel in a hybrid is that they make superb electrical generators.
The problem with Diesels is their narrow powerband - they only make peak power in a narrow RPM range. That's why semis have up to 18 gears, to keep the motor in the narrow "sweet spot". But when it's IN that spot, efficiency is killer. So when using it as a generator, you can keep it IN that sweet spot 100% of the time you're running the motor - you turn it off when not needed, charge the battery bank with it otherwise.
Batteries drive electric motor, which drives wheels. The Diesel never drives the wheels directly (mechanically). That's a "series hybrid" same as a Diesel-electric submarine or locomotive.
Note: the guy who built the first one was named "Diesel", hence we cap the name. - wassim2k, on 09/15/2009, -0/+4Does it come in Tron blue?
- Ramble, on 09/15/2009, -0/+3I disagree - F1 cars have carbon monocoque bodies and tend to leave the drivers living. Carbon is a very diverse material and it's stiffness and flexibility can be altered. VW can design parts of the shell to be more flexible and thus more prone to breaking under stress.
- mbraynard, on 09/15/2009, -1/+4It looks like a 'tech demo.'
High modulus carbon is exceptionally expensive.
And you are right about NHSTA. Unlike other cars that have internal frames that crumple, this is a monocoque frame that doesn't crumple - it cracks. So they will have to develop something else - a giant airbag? - to absorb shock impact.
The reason you can use this material and method in airplanes and bicycles is because airplanes and bicycles aren't required to pass crash tests (thankfully). - dhughes, on 09/15/2009, -0/+3 This is what I've been asking since the Honda Insight appeared, why the hell did they use a gas engine for early hybrids...and still do‽ Submarines used diesel electric in the 1930's or earlier, the technology has been around for awhile.
Diesel is much more efficient, has far more torque and emits far less pollutants with the exception of Nitrogen Oxides (something like that), I blame you diesel-phobes in the USA, dammit get over your fear of diesel because Canada gets lumped in with your market! You can't even find a diesel Toyota north of Mexico for crying out loud.
Now if it was only something other than a 3-wheeled dorky looking car it would be nice, a small 4x4 like the Tiguan with a diesel electric option would be nice.
- simplyskeptic, on 09/15/2009, -0/+3The smart car was never very smart. I drove a metro 10 years ago that seated 4 and got better gas milage.
- Mike17102, on 09/15/2009, -0/+3This logic fails on many levels.
Bikes are smaller and more open, so the side draft makes less of an impact. They also gain a lot more stability than a car does from the spinning of their wheels, offsetting the impact further.
This thing will get blown around by Rigs. - awokenbymyfears, on 09/15/2009, -1/+4Have you never seen a Smart car?
- SJZero, on 09/29/2009, -0/+2Yay! Metric units!
Most people scoff, but I find l/100km the most useful unit available. Want to know how much your trip will cost? Oh, look there! Just multiply gas price per litre by litres/100km then that by (distancein km / 100km). Why would anyone mess around with ugly mpg? Why should I care how far I get per unit volume, when what I'm interested in is how much gas it takes to get a distance? - Kairinnia, on 09/15/2009, -1/+3be a great commuter, if it's decently priced I'd grab one
- Logicexe, on 09/15/2009, -5/+7Great, because we all know that Volkswagons never have any electrical problems.
- gothsquirrel, on 09/15/2009, -5/+7Is that Chevy Volt ***** MPG or real MPG?
-
Show 51 - 100 of 129 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is