Is a 285 MPG Car for Real?
A little quick math on a metric conversion calculator shows 285 mpg translates to 1-litre per 100 kilometres. Thus, aptly named, is Volkswagen's concept vehicle the "1-Litre Car".
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| While Volkswagen named their fuel efficient concept the 1-Litre Car for obvious reasons, it quickly took on the name of Cigar Car due to its outward appearance. (Photo: Volkswagen) |
Journalists in Europe recently had the chance to test drive this little phenom, and were duly impressed. Andrew English of The Telegraph put it succinctly by stating, "The car consumed less fuel than I have: my two pints of beer the night before, versus the car's third of a pint over the entire 10-mile (16 km) test route."
After recovering from my audible guffaw, I read on to what he and Volkswagen had to say, learning more than just a few technical tidbits. Ultimately, this car is not on sale, if it was, you'd be looking at around 3 million euros, or nearly CAD$4.7 million. Anyone interested?
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| Although it gets 100 kilometres per litre of gas, that probably won't offset the $4.7 million dollar price tag, that is if it even were for sale. (Photo: Volkswagen) |
While difficult to justify the fuel savings, they are nevertheless significant. English figured that he averaged 12,000 miles per year (19,312 km), spending the equivalent of approximately $2,690. Factoring in VW's 1-Litre Car it would be slashed to just $336.
The concept car's development was spurned on by a 3-litre car, launched in 1999, that has since sold more than 22,000 units in Europe. Taking on the challenge, the research and development team succeeded three years later by bringing this rather aeronautical looking tandem two-seater to life, sportingly simple in design.