[70AARCUDA]

...and, just how many 'rush-hour commuters' do you think would accept snailing along at 43.5 mph while being passed by everybody else doing 65-75 mph on a road where the speed limit was 60 mph (wink,wink)? ? ?

 

[obermd]

No trunk, no grocery space, etc. This type of very high MPG car has shown up occassionaly but the tradeoffs that were made makes this impractical for all but a very few.

 

[coinneach]

These tiny little people-movers (or should I say, person-movers) are sort of OK in extremely dense Euro cities, as long as the driver doesn't need to haul anything more than a bag of groceries or ever hit the A-bahn. For the US, outside of special cases like HI and NYC, they're totally impractical.

 

[GoldenCruze]

...and, just how many 'rush-hour commuters' do you think would accept snailing along at 43.5 mph while being passed by everybody else doing 65-75 mph on a road where the speed limit was 60 mph (wink,wink)? ? ?

That 43.5 was the average speed of the drive. The top speed of the vehicle is 75mph, which would be plenty fast enough. When I lived in Europe there were many cars about that size or smaller. So I think that the market there would work for them, while in the U.S. it would be questionable. Shoot, even the average speed of it is twice as fast as a moped and much more fuel efficient. And mopeds are very popular in Europe.

 

[NickD]

No trunk, no grocery space, etc. This type of very high MPG car has shown up occassionaly but the tradeoffs that were made makes this impractical for all but a very few.

May have to sacrifice 100 mpg to carry an extra bag of groceries. For additional extra safety, should make this car a bit lower, so you can drive under a Suburban.

 

[jakkaroo]

o man i can carry more stuff on my back riding my bike than the space that car has,and mine has unlimted milage

 

[jblackburn]

Wonder how long you have to stand on the gas pedal to hit that 75. "Top speed of 75" reminds me of the old VW Beetle where you could hit that speed - downhill, with a tailwind, and it took 30+ seconds just to hit 55. You'd be pulverized around here!

 

[Beachernaut]

Meh.... I could take the engine/drive train out of a street bike and drop it into a small light tube frame with a sleek body and have great mileage. It doesn't change the fact that it'd scare the crap out of me to drive to work. I'll keep my mpg's in the high 30s and not have a heart attack.

 

[mcg75]

Chevy isn't doing anything about this because it will never be produced in anything near it's current form.

Cars that would be written off after a head-on collision with a dandelion like this one would never pass crash tests.

 

[GoldenCruze]

Collision issues? Well, let's see...

We have mopeds and motorcycles on the roads, and they have no bumpers, much less any skin at all surrounding the driver. Then there's the Smart car, which has a very high crash rating.

 

[jblackburn]

Collision issues? Well, let's see...

We have mopeds and motorcycles on the roads, and they have no bumpers, much less any skin at all surrounding the driver. Then there's the Smart car, which has a very high crash rating.

Crash test ratings are based on colliding with similar sized cars.

You get hit in a Smart Car by a Hummer or Suburban, you're dead. There ain't nothin smart about that car.

Even riding a normal bike is putting yourself at the mercy of other drivers.

 

[AceMan13]

With the price of fuel heading back towards $5/gal it might be good for a 2nd "around town" vehicle. They would need to get the price down a bit but people do buy $20k+ motorcycles everyday.

 

[NickD]

From what I paid for my 2012 Cruze with a leather interior, after GM Card and other rebates. Looks like this thing would cost $10,000 more, and from the photo, does it even have an interior? Does it have a heater, AC, and where is the radio?

Would imagine the most expensive component is that carbon fiber body, while the materials are not that expensive, highly labor intensive. Cruze would be that way made out of tin if the had to pay highly skilled labors to hand pound it out. And with Germany, also paying for their long vacations, taking a year off with pay to have a baby, health insurance. A lot like our government employees.

But know of companies trying to automate the carbon fiber process.

Not too much can be learned about their drivetrain with claims of 300 mpg. My old 500 cc motorcycle only gave me about 30 mpg. And whoever said they don't offer that much protection, is very correct as the other statement about many other idiots on the road trying to kill you.

 

[Beachernaut]

Collision issues? Well, let's see...

We have mopeds and motorcycles on the roads, and they have no bumpers, much less any skin at all surrounding the driver. Then there's the Smart car, which has a very high crash rating.

Your example only highlights the issues. Yes we have mopeds and motorcycles on the roads. When they are in an accident involving a car (even a smaller car), who do you think is more likely to be injured or killed?

Not too much can be learned about their drivetrain with claims of 300 mpg. My old 500 cc motorcycle only gave me about 30 mpg. And whoever said they don't offer that much protection, is very correct as the other statement about many other idiots on the road trying to kill you.

IMO the biggest efficiency hit on a motorcycle is due to aerodynamics. My co-worker has a street bike with similar displacement to my Cruze and gets approximately 35mpg. Granted, his bike isn't built with economy in mind, but if you were to put that engine in a streamlined body, I'll bet you could see some impressive numbers.