258 mpg Car made in China $600

[gary350]

This car will be available to the public soon.

This is not a joke and they do sell for $600.00.
They won’t be able to make them fast enough--
be good just to run around town.

Here's a car that will get you back and forth to work on the cheap.......
$600 for the car. 258 miles per gallon... Only a one seater however

It looks like Ford, Chrysler and GM missed the boat again!



China launches $600 car that will get 258mpg

This $600 car is no toy and is ready to be released
in China next year.

The single seater aero car totes VW (Volkswagen) branding.

Volkswagen did a lot of very highly protected testing
of this car in Germany , but it was not announced until now
where the car would make it's first appearance.

The car was introduced at the VW stockholders meeting as the most economical car in the world is presented.

The initial objective of the prototype was to prove that 1 liter of fuel could deliver 100 kilos of travel.



Spartan interior doesn't sacrifice safety

The aero design proved essential to getting the desired result.
The body is 3.47 meters long and just 1.25 meters wide,
and a little over a meter high.
The prototype was made completely of carbon fiber
and is not painted to save weight.

The power plant is a one cylinder diesel
positioned ahead of the rear axle and combined
with an automatic shift controlled by a knob in the interior.

Safety was not compromised as the impact and roll-over protection is comparable to the GT racing cars.



The Most Economic Car in the World will be on sale next year:

Better than Electric Car – 258 miles/gallon:
IPO 2010 in Shanghai This is a single seated car

From conception to production:
3 years and the company is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany ..

Will be selling for 4000 Yuan, equivalent to US$ 600..

Gas tank capacity = 1.7 gallons

Speed = 62 – 74.6 Miles/hour

Fuel efficiency = 258 miles/gallon

Travel distance with a full tank = 404 miles

[S&S_ShovelHead]

Any chance of seeing something like this in North America in the next 5 years?

[wierdscience]

Just a little bigger than a coffin,how convenient.

[Tony Ennis]

I'm not aware of anything that gets 258MPG. Not scooters, not motorcycles,.. nothing.

[Michael Edwards]

Just about blew a fuse on the ole BS detector reading that. They tell you that this $600 car is just about ready to sell and get you lathered up with specs derived from a carbon fiber body ( with no paint cause that would hurt performance ) prototype. Do you really think they can sell a car with a carbon fiber body and a diesel engine for $600... didn't think so. I wont even bother with their safety claim... complete shameless promotion. I think a small car like this with great mileage is a good idea, but $600 for what they claim isn't realistic IMO.

ME

[saltmine]

It won't happen. By the time they get it to meet US standards for safety and emissions, it will probably cost about $10,000....that is if they can get it through customs.

Tata Automobile Company of India has a car that is sold in India for aproximately $1200, that gets 60mpg. They had plans to import an "Ameicanized" version of it to the United States, two years ago. Last I heard of it, Tata released a statement saying they were still going through the "red tape" to get the car tested and approved for use on American highways. Unfortunately, the American Tata will cost $15,000, and get 45mpg. I seriously doubt if Tata has enough economic "horsepower" to make the car safety and smog legal here.

On the other hand, Chrysler is standing with one foot on a banana peel the other in the grave. Once they croak, the Italians (FIAT) will be importing their cars to the USA, and selling them in ex-Chrysler dealers, under the name of "Chrysler/FIAT". The car FIAT has earmarked for import sports a 1.2L four-cylinder engine, and a choice of a manual five-speed or a "Euro-tune" automatic transmission. They expect to sell them for aproximately $11,000 apiece. Of course this comes with a comprehensive warranty (which covers NOTHING), a choice of whitewall or black wall tires, and an AM/FM radio (that doesn't work) with an eight track tape player.

The famous(?) Dodge truck will be replaced by Iveco/FIAT diesels.

[Iraiam]

Nice, but I'll stick with my big old gas guzzling (comparatively) Ford. That thing looks like a go-cart with a body and a windshield.

[J Tiers]

It's very attractive as a concept, but I doubt very much the number of 258 MPG. And why 258 and not 257 or 259? So precise, the measurement is to about 3 tenths of one percent.....

And the last time this surfaced, a month or so back, the mileage was something over 100 MPG, 150 or the like, IIRC.

Perhaps it has a Pogue carburetor..........................

[Bill736]

The claims on that $600 car that gets 250 + mpg have been floating around on the internet for several years . It's an urban legend, but not a reality.
Small turbocharged diesels have , however, been the subject of much interest for achieving high miles per gallon. Sadly, the cost of diesel per gallon has been well above the cost of gasoline for a while now, owing to the higher energy content, so the operating cost advantage is not what it could have been.

[J Tiers]

Sadly, the cost of diesel per gallon has been well above the cost of gasoline for a while now, owing to the higher energy content, so the operating cost advantage is not what it could have been.

The real question on the costs is whether you "win" on the mileage per dollar basis..... as long as diesel is less expensive than the inverse mileage ratio, you can win, not counting first costs, of course....

Recently, it has been only 5% or so more expensive, which is usually a big win. It HAS been up to 35% more, which is a loss.

E85, which my truck can use, is in my experience ALWAYS a loss based on MPG comparison