Posted on 10/26/2010 4:45:51 PM PDT by epithermal
Next year, Mazda will sell a car in Japan that gets 70.5 miles per gallon (mpg), or 30 kilometers per liter. The fuel economy rating won't be nearly this good in the United States because of differing requirements, but even so, the car will likely use about as little fuel as a hybrid such as the Toyota Prius--without that car's added costs for its electric motor and batteries.
The Mazda, a subcompact called the Demio in Japan and the Mazda 2 elsewhere, will include a package of changes that improves fuel economy by about 30 percent over the current model. These include a more efficient engine and transmission, and a lighter body and suspension. The Mazda 2, and a range of new cars from other automakers that have been engineered to meet more stringent fuel economy standards, demonstrate what some experts have been saying for some time--internal combustion-powered cars are far from outdated.
(Excerpt) Read more at technologyreview.com ...
Even the seats look sad to be in the car
Not pretty.
No federal union payoff either.
Not ugly.
No heavy, expensive batteries.
Lookin’ prettier all the time ....
BTW, I wonder how much “government” involvement was involved in this particular technological improvement.
Cute car. I have always thought that considering all the costs involved in making hybrids, putting some of that cost into other fuel efficiency enhancements might make more sense.
“Even the seats look sad to be in the car.”
lol!
LOL - now that you mention it those seats are a bit anthropomorphic. Maybe they should give them an opened mouth look of terror, like just before the tractor truck rolls over them.
Do they require all the safety features we do? Something drops their 70+ mpg to only 35 mpg here.
Looks like a Subaru 360...
Well if the US wasn’t so stupid they would allow diesel engines which get the same, or better, mileage that hybrids do. There have been several gas engined cars that have done 45MPG or better over the years also.
My 1972 2cv got over 60 mpg. So this is no big deal.
I’ll never buy a new Government Motors or Chrysler again. And since Ford is unionized and sends huge amounts of money to politicians who hate the US, I won’t buy one of them either.
emissions and safety regs mean totally different deal
Is the suitcase handle standard or optional?
Doesn’t Ford own a huge portion of Mazda?
was 33%, sold off a lot, down to 13% and reportedly looking to reduce further
For people who don’t need a trunk, and feel they can use the back seat as a cargo area, good for them.
I’ll stick to my truck. I like being up high, I prefer to like to be a proactive driver.
I like Mazdas in the past. I drove a stick mazda 626 in the 1980s. They are a little small-feeling, I think they could do better if they were a little roomier and larger in general.
That said, their partnership with Ford really helped both companies. Ford finally got electrical systems that worked well.
At 3 bucks a gallon, it makes no sense to buy an expensive car to get “better” mileage.
In Japan, gas is 130 Yen / liter
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