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1st gen Honda Insight with 3 cylinder VW TDI diesel

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Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
What in the hell is so hard about building a car that gets serious MPG?

These folks hacked existing technology into an 80 mpg car (using the TDI engine only, they're still working on getting the hybrid side up and running), and the major auto manufacturers can't manage to do it?

I get so pissed off at the auto industry @ times...



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Originally posted by: angry hampster
Nothing like spending thousands of dollars on a project to save an extra hundred bucks/year at the pump.
Click to expand...

That isn't the point, the point is that high mpgs can be obtained with current tech. The car has been entered in the Automotive X prize. If you don't want a high mpg car that is fine, but some of us do. Their goal is 100mpg under normal operation.
 
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
What in the hell is so hard about building a car that gets serious MPG?

These folks hacked existing technology into an 80 mpg car (using the TDI engine only, they're still working on getting the hybrid side up and running), and the major auto manufacturers can't manage to do it?

I get so pissed off at the auto industry @ times...
Click to expand...


More profitable to keep tweaking existing platforms than develop new ones, assuming people keep buying.

Improved gas mileage really doesn't make anyone any money.
 
"Bottom line: 80 mpg, which is up considerably from the original?s 53 mpg. When then hybrid portion of things is hooked up and fully sorted, they are expecting further gains of around 15 to 20 percent."

I don't fully agree with this statement. The Insight mpg number is 53mpg based on the new epa tests. however 75mph on the Interstate will net 65 - 70 mpg under most conditions. On the first trip minus IMA operation they claimed they got just over 90 mpg, however they never disclosed the speed on the route. I'm not sure where the 80mpg comes from, though that is also obtainable in a stock Insight and is even easier with plugin charging. Would be cool if they could reach the 100mpg goal on standard epa tests, though I skeptical. I really expect 70 mpg mixed as a max and 90ish for highway cruising.
 
Originally posted by: ja1484



More profitable to keep tweaking existing platforms than develop new ones, assuming people keep buying.

Improved gas mileage really doesn't make anyone any money.
Click to expand...

You can't throw a rock in California without hitting a Prius...
 
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Originally posted by: ja1484



More profitable to keep tweaking existing platforms than develop new ones, assuming people keep buying.

Improved gas mileage really doesn't make anyone any money.
Click to expand...

You can't throw a rock in California without hitting a Prius...
Click to expand...


And you can't throw a Prius without hitting sales figures that show it doing far less volume than traditional vehicles.

What is it with AT's constant obsession with anecdotal evidence? Statistics or lose. Yes, the Prius is benefitting from the current green fad.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for alternative fuels and getting us off foreign oil...I'm just saying until you make it more profitable to do *that* than what car makers are currently doing, they're not gonna rock the boat.
 
So they took an old honda insight that didn't sell well...and made an even more economical version of the same car... Do you think it will suddenly start selling like hotcakes?

It is not whether it is possible...it is whether there is a market that would return a profit. That is what businesses do. Of course now with all this government involvement in the auto industry...who knows what will be subsidized.
 
Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Nothing like spending thousands of dollars on a project to save an extra hundred bucks/year at the pump.
Click to expand...

That isn't the point, the point is that high mpgs can be obtained with current tech. The car has been entered in the Automotive X prize. If you don't want a high mpg car that is fine, but some of us do. Their goal is 100mpg under normal operation.
Click to expand...

If it makes no economic sense to do it, then it really can't be done except in one-off experiments or niche vehicles that make people feel good but cost them more money.

A lot of things can be done that way, but then can't be done in the real world.
 
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