At the risk of getting flamed, 50mpg isn’t some impossible pie in the sky concept. There’s quite a few older vehicles that either achieved 50mpg or came very close to that. I had a Honda Accord I bought with just under 200,000 miles on it that got about 45mpg, and it was manufactured in about 1980. There were plenty of others too, such as the Civic and VW diesel Rabbit (off the top of my head). They were just run of the mill cars using technology that’s now 40 years old! Of course in today’s market it’s not so much the high mpg’s that hybrids get that’s the selling point as the holier-than-thou smug attitude club many hybrid owners are buying into.
50 mpg gasoline or diesel powered cars are easily doable for modern auto makers, but very few people, other than the “save Mama Erf” crowd, would spend the money on a hybrid while a standard gasoline powered car gets the same mileage.
The whole problem is Obama and the government MANDATING what auto makers should be producing, and then forcing those products upon us.
City MPG:
23 MPG (U.S.)10 L/100km10 km/liter28 MPG (Imperial)
Highway MPG:
28 MPG (U.S.)8 L/100km12 km/liter34 MPG (Imperial)
Combined MPG:
25 MPG (U.S.)9 L/100km11 km/liter30 MPG (Imperial)
I think you are off a wee bit on the MPG.
Frankly, most of us couldn't see the need for such a beast. After running the dickens out of 1975 and 1976 gas-engine Rabbits, including the 26,000-mile C/D torture test (December 1975), we had a pretty close friendship with the car just as it was. The machine hasn't been invented yet that can beat its combination of fuel economy, acceleration and roominess. Substituting a Diesel motor for such an outstanding 78-horsepower gasoline engine seemed cruel and unusual punishment—like sending a kid sister to work the coal mines. But right here and now we'd like to confess we judged too soon. The Diesel Rabbit works, it is a success and you don't have to sacrifice your enthusiasm to like it.
The best way to grasp what the Dieselization of the Rabbit really means is to forget about what kind of fuel you have to pump in for a minute. The car costs extra—$170 Diesel system, plus $480 for a mandatory performance/comfort package—so it's not cheap. What you get for your money is fuel economy, about 50-percent more than a normal Rabbit, in fact. We measured 39.5 mpg (city) and 35.0 mpg (highway) in the C/D mileage test, numbers that provide graphic evidence of the Diesel's low- and mid-range economy. The second boon Dieselization brings is a longer service life for the engine: VW claims it will last twice as long as its gas engine based on endurance bench-test results. The third benefit is that maintenance requirements are slightly reduced.
The Smart car sub-1 liter turbodiesel was getting over 70MPG in Europe. Americanized, it’s a piece of crap.
Cars today, because of continually increasing safety standards are heavier than in 1980. A 2000 Civic has a curb weight of 2359 pounds, while a 2016 has a curb weight of 2800 pounds and is rated at 35mpg, combined driving. Can you imagine getting a 2800 pound car to 50mpg?
” I had a Honda Accord I bought with just under 200,000 miles on it that got about 45mpg, and it was manufactured in about 1980. “
I got 50 mpg on the highway in mine cruising at 120 mph!