Posted on 02/17/2005 10:48:09 PM PST by Lori675
Edited on 02/18/2005 10:08:30 AM PST by Lead Moderator. [history]
http://newmarksdoor.typepad.com/mainblog/cars/index.html Volkswagon has produced a two-passenger concept car that gets 235 mpg. Looks like something from the Jetsons.
Almost every automaker at the recent Tokyo Motor Show displayed good hybrid-electric prototypes, some getting more than 100 mpg. Volkswagen already sells Europeans a 78-mpg, four-seat nonhybrid subcompact and plans a two-seat city car for 2003 that will get 235 mpg (not a typo; VW is even testing a diesel version that gets the equivalent of 282 mpg). When cars are so fuel-frugal, powering them with fuel cells becomes a near-term option using current technology."
Here's pics of the car and its technology. It looks pretty cool http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car.php&carnum=1316
Personally, I've always wanted a BF-109 painted fire-engine red with flames!
IF and its a big IF, VW has the guts to put it into production, the market will determine whether it is a success.
Many folks here will not buy one; some will, especially as the future world market brings more petroleum powered cars into play. I think it is wise for the auto industry to look ahead when India and China will be competing with us for oil (See several articles posted today)
The concept is cool, but IMHO...dang that thing is ugly! Looks like a suppository.
Or an electric razor...or a vibrator!
I don't think this can or should be a production car, but I do think that more efficient diesel cars are the way to go in the short run. I am not convinced hybrids are any better.
Regards, Ivan
Building a flying car is relatively easy. Air-traffic control, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. Do you want the idiots who can't figure out how to drive in 2 dimensions suddenly having to cope with 3 dimensions?
OUCH, big jump from 50-14mpg! haha, poor guy, but at least he's safer in the truck, depending on the truck of course!
This is a difficult issue in Germany, because showing swastikas without with an offical permission is strictly prohibited and for understandable reasons there are many bad emotions linked with this symbol. Since my uncle and his friends are absolutely no nazis, I think that they can accept this historical inaccuracy pretty well.
BTW - Together with 2 Me 109 of the Messerschmitt foundation in Germany and another Me 109 in the US this is the only one in flying condition with the original motor. Because there are no spare-parts anymore, it is a big and expensive enterprise to keep such a complicated (!) plane flying. Most Me 109 fly with motors that do not fit to the plane. The Daimler-Benz motor DB 605 had 12 hanging pistons in line. The motors that are normally used nowadays for the plane have standing pistons (i.e. the Rolls Royce Kestrel). This looks horrible, because you can not use the original motor containment.
Anyway - I love the plane.
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