Volkswagen's $600 car gets 258 mpg...

[M.D. Holloway]

If this is true, I'll buy one for each foot!

They won't be able to make them fast enough--good just to run around town.
Here's a car that will get you back and forth to work on the cheap...
$600 for the car. 258 miles per gallon...

Only a one seater however - Talk about cheap transportation....
Volkswagen's $600 car gets 258 mpg--


This $600 car is no toy and is ready to be released in China next year.

The single seater aero car totes VW (Volkswagen) branding.

Volkswagen did a lot of very highly protected testing of this car in Germany,
but it was not announced until now where the car would make its first appearance

The car was introduced at the VW stockholders meeting as the most economical car in the world is presented. The initial objective of the prototype was to prove that 1 liter of fuel could deliver 100 kilometers of travel.

Spartan interior doesn't sacrifice safety

The aero design proved essential to getting the desired result.
The body is 3.47 meters long and just 1.25 meters wide, and a little over a meter high.The prototype was made completely of carbon fiber and is not painted to save weight.

The power plant is a one cylinder diesel, positioned ahead of the rear axle and combined with an automatic shift controlled by a knob in the interior.

Safety was not compromised as the impact and roll-over protection is comparable to the GT racing cars.


The Most Economic Car in the World will be on sale next year:

Better than Electric Car ??? 258 miles/gallon: IPO 2010 in Shanghai
This is a single-seat car
From conception to production: 3 years and the company is headquartered in Hamburg , Germany . Will be selling for 4000 Yuan, equivalent to US $600..

Gas tank capacity = 1.7 gallons
Speed = 62 to 74.6 Miles/hour
Fuel efficiency = 258 miles/gallon
Travel distance with a full tank = 404 miles

[Gogar]

I look forward to seeing one of those in the left lane at 50 mph.

[HHI944]

If it ever comes here (doubtful), by the time the EPA is done with it, they'll have to charge 60k...

[ckissick]

How can that possibly be $600? The tires alone would cost nearly that much. Impossible.

[Andy911sc]

Sign me up.

[M.D. Holloway]

Volkswagen introduces world’s most economical car - Photos (1/6) | CarAdvice

Even if it were $1500 to $2000 it would be worth it. Heck, I know folks that spend $5000 on golf carts!

[Lapkritis]

Where are the pedals?

[Zeke]

I can't build a go-kart for 600. Something is not right. The windshield would cost 150. Even if you take in to account that the glass might be mass produced at a few dollars, the body shell alone would cost too much to be able to put running gear and steering in it and be at 600 with any profit.

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Where are the pedals?

Hah, it's got a dead pedal.

[mb911]

Wow does seem amazing though I can tell you this then when Chrysler was making the 4.0 6cyl down the road it cost them $100 to make 1 complete engine. So I suppose if you make enough of them it makes sense they may be able to make a $100 or something on them but sure have to sell allot of them. I suppose they are throw away cars so probably short life vehicles?

[sammyg2]

I agree with others $600 in the US of A is un-possible.
Maybe for $6k .......

[kach22i]

To be for sale in China, an article over a year old said:

Will be selling for 4000 Yuan, equivalent to US$ 600..

Sounds too good to be true, closer to 6k in my opinion like sammy said.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by HHI944

If it ever comes here (doubtful), by the time the EPA is done with it, they'll have to charge 60k...

...and it'll weigh 4x as much.... ...and get 1/4 the mileage.

[Bill Douglas]

Volkswagen - the peoples car. True to its origins.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

someone posted this car here on OT years ago.

here's a 2009 article on it.

Rumors and Reality About Volkswagen's 258 mpg Car | Leslie Berliant

[Schumi]

I did research on optimization of a vehicle monocoque that was a derivative of that Volkwagen project. That vehicle architecture concept as laid out by volkswagen would not cost $600, not even $6000. It was using a hybrid die cast magnesium frame with a bonded stressed carbon fiber shell. My research involved iterative computational optimization of the magnesium castings and the fiber orientations and ply schedules of the carbon skins for mass, frequency response point mobility, global stiffness and eigenvalue/vector modal response.

This was F1 tech, not $600 third-world-car tech.


Don't shoot the messenger, but that is how it is.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Schumi

This was F1 tech, not $600 third-world-car tech.

For argument's sake let's say they dumb it down to a steel pipe frame with some crush foam inserts and No. 2 non-paint plastic skin.

Cheap and low tech would drastically lower the price compared to the prototype.

[onewhippedpuppy]

BS. There's more than $600 in components shown in the pictures. The fact that the "article" seems to have been written by the same people that write Nigerian scam emails isn't particularly confidence inspiring either. Even the Tata Nano is about $2k.

[cashflyer]

So... VW is building a KR175?

[Laneco]

I would drive the car above! I think that looks terrific!

The VW? Cannot possibly imagine that costing anything less than 20 or 30 grand.

angela

[aigel]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

Looks like a 996!

Love the weather there in Germany too. That's mid-day in August?

G