Here's the breakdown, Volkswagen made a hybrid car that is the most economical car, which runs on a diesel engine and an electric motor. Plugging it into a regular electric outlet at home can also charge the lithium ion battery. The body is made out of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer parts to lower drag. See Here
Volkswagen says the XL1 hybrid consumes 0.9 liters per 100 km (313 mpg) and its CO2 emissions are 24 g/km. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 11.9 seconds, and its top speed is electronically limited to 160 km/h (99 mph).
Let's just assume that these stats are completely accurate, if they are then this probably is the world's most economical car. The demand for oil will definitely decrease in the UK and Germany seeing as the release of the car is in those two countries by 2013. 313 miles per gallon is absolutely ridiculous, but that's only if you charge the car at night or whenever. Just a few downsides to point out here, the rear tires seem like a complete hassle to change along with getting snow or ice out of them. This car probably takes up a ridiculous amount of electricity if it gets 313 miles per gallon. If one is fine with paying for a higher electric bill and being more nature friendly than paying for gas, then by all means roll with it. At least the car will make a large enough impact in the UK or Germany in demand for gas that the suppliers will send more to the U.S.
6 comments:
I agree about those back wheels, changing those would be a pain. People are beginning to push the green friendly fuel/car, but as you pointed out it will take extra time on the consumers part (i.e. plugging it in etc...). I get the feeling that this would annoy you. So multiply that by a million or so. Do you think this green friendly fuel/car movement will actually make any progress over time?
I think cars like this are a very smart idea but is the effort and money put into the car with being "green"? Although this car really does protect the environment in a way, it is going to be very costly between the diesel gas and the electricity needed to keep this car moving. To me, these cars would break down easily and therefore need more money spent on car repairs. Over time, these car manufacturers will need to fix this car to where less money will be spent to keep this car green friendly.
To Smith, Yes I do think that sooner or later green friendly fuel/cars movement will make progress. It obviously is because if it didn't manufacturers wouldn't bother trying to find a hybrid car. In fact we're forced to progress the green movement because oil is a scarce resource, eventually all the distributors and manufacturers will be forced to make hybrid if an alternative fuel source is not found. In retrospect the plugging in of this car hopefully takes less time than putting gas in the car. There's no need for swiping your credit card, choosing the oil, and sitting the car waiting for it to fill up. You plug it in and walk away. That's my take on it.
Taylor you're probably right about the cost of repairs on this car, a diesel engine and ion ltihium battery aren't the cheapest things in the world but let's face it, manufacturers wouldn't make a car that breaks down so easily to the point that it hurts sales. Sure some might break down but they want to increase their consumer base not scare it away. The car will probably cost a lot, but in the long run here, gasoline will do nothing but go up. So therefore the investment of a hybrid is going to happen at some point. Might as well do it now.
You say that it would be cheaper to have this car because it runs on electricity part of the time, but how much does it cost in electricity to recharge this car every night and can it skip a day or more to save money? Even if this car ran solely off of electricity it would still use oil. Gasoline is used to produce electricity, so is this car still such a saver of gas if it has to be charged every night instead of refilling once a week? Also does the car have a function to stop charging once the battery has been refilled, because if it doesn't and the car is plugged in all night there might be a huge waste of electricity over a long period of time.
Does the car have a solar charge feature? I would think that would be incredible. Imagine you get to the mall and you notice you have a low battery, with a solar charge feature you go in and shop for an hour or two and come back out with a fully charged car.
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