What do you want in a 100 MPG car?

[fastback33]

I'm curious, led on from a competition called x-prize. What do you want on it that is conceptual, and practical? there are no parameters other than it has to win the race and get 100 miles per gallon, oh and it has to go into production and i think 15,000 units per year. (Note: the tesla does not count)

[majicmeow]

the 100mpg car simply wont exist in any consumer usable form. I thoroughly believe that the only REAL 100mpg cars will be small, single seater impractical commuter cars.

BUT, to answer your question and ignore my personal feelings about them, here is what I would like to see in the first 100mpg vehicle.
-Usable form factor. No smaller than say, a Toyota Yaris. Anything that is smaller is a waste of time in the modern market
-No electric hybrids. They cost too much, don't give economy as advertised and the actual environmental effect is worse when battery production/disposal is concerned
-A complete and utter re-thinking of the internal combustion engine. Honda was on the right track with their Super Lean burning i-vtec engine (the link is escaping me at the moment, sry...). A different philosophy must be had.
-If they are afraid to re-think the ICE, then an already economical engine must be stuffed into a smaller vehicle. IE: a new Toyota Corolla 2.4 gets 50mpg. The same as the 1.5 in the Yaris, but it is hauling a much larger vehicle. With the proper tuning and gearing, the larger engine would have no problem pulling the much smaller Yaris into the 60-70mpg range.
-A super lean burning common rail turbo diesel engine. In the same fashion as the Honda petrol engine.
-a brand new, massively evolved CVT is a must for economy at that scale.
-Super light body construction

Just my 2¢... I have more ideas, but not the time.

Ciao

-Aaron

[WhiteBlue]

100 mpg means 2.35 L/100km

that will be reality in 2 years. Volkswagen already had a 3.0 L/100 km Lupo some years back which was a bit expensive at that time but it din't have regen technology. and there was the Audi A2 1.2 also without regen at 79 mpg



http://www.audiworld.com/news/01/A2TDI/content.shtml
http://www.usatoday.com/money/consumer/ ... uto497.htm
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm

They also did a research vehicle with 300 mpg.

So with regen 100 mpg will be met surely. the technology is already there. it will take some time to get light weight materials into serial production in such quantities that those cars will be affordable.

[walter]

I would love to see a small three wheeler tandem car that is has the flexibility of either another passenger onboard or a bigger cargo area.

something very simple, natually sporty, and as cheap as an average motorcycle.

Commuting to work, I sometimes count the number of cars passing me at stop lights that have only one occupant... and I am astonished at how many of those are huge SUV's or full size trucks.

I want to see more of something like this on the roads...

[nae]

a car has to be able to carry stuff, otherwise a motorcycle is the only transport you really need, i have to get a small amount of tools about with me for my daily work and if i didnt have tools I could cycle. but a lawn mower doesnt fit on a push bike

[freedom_honda]

Honda FCX

[RH1300S]

Pretty much exactly the same as Walter. I have often pondered this type of question while ambling down a motorway with 3 spare seats.

Small & light enough that performance is "cheerful"

Small frontal area and good enough aero that an 80mph cruise is just a whiff of throttle.

Nimble handling.

The three wheeler idea naturally helps a lot in fitting the brief.

[dumrick]

Pretty much exactly the same as Walter. I have often pondered this type of question while ambling down a motorway with 3 spare seats.

Small & light enough that performance is "cheerful"

Small frontal area and good enough aero that an 80mph cruise is just a whiff of throttle.

Nimble handling.

The three wheeler idea naturally helps a lot in fitting the brief.

Good points there. Besides space for 2 and some shopping bags, the dynamic side must be acceptable. I can't see myself buying a vehicle I couldn't have some fun with.

[WhiteBlue]

I would ask for the spec of the Audi A2 1.2 TDI (under 990 kg) with brake energy regeneration. Would be a perfect car at 100 mpg for me. the fuel economy would be almost twice my BMW 118d (52 mpg). of cause the speed and acceleration would not be comparable with a 2L engine but the lower weight would compensate a lot.

[donskar]

330 P4 body
Nissan GT-R Spec V R35 engine
0-60 in 3-4 seconds
Comfortable cruise at 120
. . .

But seriously:
Room for at least 3, preferably 4.
Room for their luggage for at least a weekend trip.
0-60 MPH in the 10-12 second range.
Ability to cruise comfortably at 65 MPH.
Affordable to those at the "middle class" or lower.
Air conditioning and radio.

I think those are modest requirements, but for 100 MPG most people would settle for sensible performance rather than dream car stuff.

[fastback33]

Interesting it seems small and light weight is what everyone wants, and what i would want as well. The three wheeler is a good idea. In terms of more making a car efficient enough to get 100mpg, i was thinking about making the drive train, form the drive shaft, to rear differential, to wheels extremely efficient but not sure how to do that. I was also thinking having some kind of KERS system running off of the drive shaft that could help power the car and add to the performance.

I think two seater is the optimal way to go, plus cargo room, enough for 3-4 suitcases. Although i don't want to neglect 4 person families i feel that it is a necessity, as this technology is just starting. But in time be able to produce higher capacity vehicles for those large families.

Any more ideas? anything technical would be really enjoyed also!

[Carlos]

This engine would be a (nearly off the shelf) candidate for a 100MPG car. It was used in preproduction concept car in about 2001.

The Daihatsu Sirion 2CD two-stroke, direct injection, turbocharged and supercharged diesel engine. Dubbed the E202, the engine is capable of travelling 100 km on only 3 litres of fuel - 94 mpg. Should be a very compact and light component.

At 987 cc the innovative E202 engine is the world’s smallest two-stroke, direct injection diesel engine. The 2-stroke cycle allows the Sirion to develop greater torque at low speeds and less vibration than a similar four-stroke engine. The three cylinders produce an impressive maximum torque of 110lb.ft and 60bhp, and don’t forget that’s all from a 1.0-litre diesel engine.

The E202 engine employs a hybrid scavenging system that combines a supercharger, a variable nozzle turbocharger and an intercooler together with a bypass control for internal exhaust gas re-circulation. This hybrid system improves the output and fuel consumption of the engine by using the exhaust energy efficiently, maintaining the scavenging pressure at an optimum level. This engine clears current Euro 3 exhaust emission regulations and is also ready to meet Euro 4 regulations.

____________
Rand Gibbons

[flynfrog]

I want a 600 hp car that gets 100mpg seats six can tow a boat and can fly

[WhiteBlue]

This engine would be a (nearly off the shelf) candidate for a 100MPG car. It was used in preproduction concept car in about 2001.

The Daihatsu Sirion 2CD two-stroke, direct injection, turbocharged and supercharged diesel engine. Dubbed the E202, the engine is capable of travelling 100 km on only 3 litres of fuel - 94 mpg. Should be a very compact and light component....

3 L/100km is equivalent to 79 mpg (US)
2.35 L/100km is 100 mpg
so you have to go 20% better

It looks for a four seat hatchback @ 100 mpg you have to have to have

• a weight under one metric ton preferrably 0.8 tons
• relatively skinny low drag high efficiency tyre wheels
• a Cw < 0.25
• moderate projected area seating 2 side by side
• turbo diesel approx. 0.9-1.1 L capacity
• dual fuel or KERS/HERS to get you around 40% mechanical efficiency

[roost89]

For my 100mpg car. It'd be pretty aero-efficient so it'd have as low a drag co-efficient as possible. Light-weight, so made from some aluminium alloys) with 1.1L dual-stage turbo diesel and low-resistance wheels. It would seat 2 with boot-space for 2 large hold-all bags.

As for creature comforts. It would have a heater, a radio/CD/MP3 player and that'd be it. Windows would be manually operated, that'd work for air-con

Pretty basic, but there's less weight to lug around.