O.k folks. Here's where the 300mpg lie is laid bare. I guess you could call it a 300 MPG car if you get your electricity for free.
He’s not talking about the same car. Aptera is the name of a start up company, this post is about a car that VW is going to make.
He’s not talking about the same car. Aptera is the name of a start up company, this post is about a car that VW is going to make.
They give a well reasoned and sound explanation of where this figure comes from on their website. Go to the Performance tab under the Vehicle details section an check it out. Excerpt below....(this if for the Hybrid, not the all electric version)
With the Plug-in Electric Hybrid version of the Aptera(typ-1h) the mileage of the vehicle is difficult to describe with one number. For example, the Typ-1h can drive 40 to 60 miles on electric power alone. Perhaps for such a trip, the engine may only be duty-cycled for a few seconds or minutes. This would produce a fantastic number, an incredible number that, though factually true, would have no useful context, i.e. it's just a point on a graph.
An asymptotic decaying exponential is an accurate way to describe the fuel mileage of the Typ-1h. For example driving say, 50 miles, one might calculate a MPG number that's 2 or 3 times higher, say, 1000 MPG. As battery energy is depleted, the frequency of the engine duty cycle is increased. More fuel is used. at 75 miles, the MPG might be closer to 400 MPG. Again, we're using battery energy mostly, but turning the engine on more and more. Just over 100 miles we're just over 300 MPG, and just beyond 120 miles, we're around 300 MPG.
They go to say that if your driving on the engine for long distances, mileage falls to around 130 mpg.... still pretty damn good as far as I'm concerned.
The engineering thought that went into this little bug can only be called exquisite....I want one; not to save the world but because it looks like a hoot to drive!
Last I heard electricity is worth the equivalent of about 75 cents per equivalent gallon of gas, based on 3 dollars a gallon for gas.
Using the average U.S. electricity rate of 9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 30 miles of electric driving will cost 81 cents. If we optimistically assume the average US fuel economy is 25 miles per gallon, at $3.00 gasoline this equates to 75 cents a gallon for equivalent electricity. Compared to a regular hybrid's real-world 45 miles per gallon, it's effectively $1.20/gallon. PHEVs are meant to plug-in at night. In many areas of the country, overnight power is available at a lower cost. As PHEVs start to enter the marketplace, we'll see increasing support from electric utilities, as they'll offer reduced nighttime rates to incentivize off-peak charging. In some areas where wind and hydropower is wasted at night, the rate can be as low as 2-3 cents per kWh. That's 20-25 cents a gallon.
http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html