About fuel efficient cars...?

Q. Why do they look so stupid? Some of them DO look cool, but what I'm seeing is tiny cars that look flat out retarded. Why can't they just make them look NORMAL? Knowledgeable answers and jokes pertaining to the subject are appreciated.
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Answer
I think the insides of an electric car is much different than that of a normal one. It's not as heavy, not as many mechanics involved. Because of that, they need to disperse the weight differently, and it gets them more room to be creative.

I wouldn't be surprised if... *looks at link* wow... that's bad. I guess they just want to catch peoples' attention, in the worst way possible. Can that thing even drive? If that got hit, the people inside would get MESSED up.

http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/07/aptera-to-deliver-first-produc.html

That's actually a decent electric car. The reason they use 3 wheels is to avoid safety and crash testing. Not really the safest thing in the world to drive eh?

Safe but fuel efficient cars?

Q. I have been seeing a lot of prius's and other small hybrid cars completely crushed when involved in accidents. I dont know a lot about cars but i wanted one that was safe but also had low emmisions and was fuel efficient. Not sure if i sound really stupid so please correct me, but what cars are like this? (safe and fuel efficient)

Answer
Well...basically nothing isn't safe. If you drive over 50 no matter what car you drive you won't have much chances of surviving.
There are always studies involved in car safety, and currently only the French manufacturers hold the line on the "safest" cars. And yes they are making efforts on fuel efficiency where if I am not mistaking, the newest Citroen models have cars that consume on average straight road drive at about 4/100 l/km.

But if you want a hybrid...well, you don't have much choices, since this is still a new concept that oil company's don't favor that much. Especially electric cars like Tesla roadster and Rimac Concept One etc.

Anyways, most of my family and friends own french cars, and I myself own one. And just to say, my dad had a crash 4 years ago and he was just fine.

You have a lot of choices here, but it's best for you to go the showroom and just pick a car you fall in love to. When buying a car you think about the beauty of it and the quality of the mechanics and the engine, not how safe it is or how much co2 per grams is releasing. But, stated above, have those things in mind when choosing, it's never too bad to be aware about the environment and the safety.

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Question about more fuel efficient cars?

krispy

Cars have changed a lot. There are now Hybrids and electric cars. What is a important factor that caused these changes in the car industry? Is it polution and peak oil? Any others?

Answer
There is a convergence of need with capability. In the last several decades electronic devices have been getting smaller and powering those devices has spawned a battery industry and supporting electronics. GM had an interest in solar powered vehicles that lead a research team to win a solar car challenge. This led directly to the development of the "Impact" a prototype battery electric car.

Meanwhile the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which predates the founding of the EPA by 3 years, was searching for ways to reduce air pollution in California. Seeing that the Impact was an already existing zero emissions car. They created the Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate (ZEV) in the early 90's. This called for automakers to sell a limited number of zero emissions vehicles as a small percentage of their total business if they did business in California. This then led directly to the development and lease of the EV1, RAVev, Ford Ranger ev, the S10 electric pick up and the Honda EV+. Of these only the EV1 was built as an electric car from the ground up as it was based on the Impact and not a gasoline powered car.

These early EV's needed a battery and there was a good one. The nickel metal hydride (NM-HI) developed by the Ovonics corporation: http://www.evuk.co.uk/hotwires/rawstuff/art24.html But Ovanics sold the rights to the battery to GM who among others brought a lawsuit against CARB to crush the ZEV and then they recalled and crushed the EV1 cars. This was made infamous in the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" GM then sold the battery rights to Texaco. Six days later they were bought out by Chevron who brought suit to keep the NM-HI batteries out of electric vehicles. They agreed however to allow the batteries with a smaller format in vehicles that still had a gasoline engine and the hybrid was born. Almost every existing hybrid vehicle uses NM-HI Batteries (see mine at: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aqv4NfsX53ue3XBanRpLzAv95nNG;_ylv=3?qid=20100304052536AAMz5Az for a list of hybrid cars that use NM-HI batteries) For whatever reason Chevron consistently refused to license them in a format sufficient for a purely electric vehicle.

There was a lot of talk about peak oil in 2004 - 2008, When speculation caused the oil price to rise dramatically gasoline prices skyrocketed. This produced two effects that have affected electric vehicles. The price of gas created even more of an interest in electric vehicles. It also precipitated an economic collapse as people on the financial edge with cheap credit could no longer afford their energy bills. That collapse has stimulated legislative reaction and resulting development funds for alternative energy including electric vehicles.

You can expect that the current credit economic crisis will limit electric car production but research and development will continue. It may also eliminate some dead wood in the automotive industry and create spaces for eventual new development. By mid decade some solid technological advances may also begin to reach consumers.

American Hybrids or Fuel Efficient Cars....?

Q. What are some out there? Im planing on keeping my options open to an American car, but does anyone know any that arnt too expensive (can possibly find used/lease) and what kinds there are, comments or reviews on any, etc.
Thanks :D
Pretty much..
Any American car,
Fuel efficient.
Justtt Fuel efficient I guess..
And American, I wont be buying it till next year.

Answer
American carmakers do have hybrids.. Ford makes the Escape Hybrid, which I think is probably the one with the best drivetrain of all current American hybrids.

It uses a Power Split Device transmission, which is mechanically very simple and consequently very durable. It has just a single gearset to combine the power from the gasoline engine and electric motors, and the first of New York City's Escape Hybrids in its taxi fleet have withstood 200,000 miles of abuse at the hands of cabbies with no problems.

(the PSD geardrive transmission was developed by the American technology company TRW, and it's also used in the Toyota Prius and other Toyota, Lexus and Nissan hybrids).

Right now the 2008 Escape Hybrid 2WD qualifies for a $3000 Federal Tax Credit from the IRS too.

Escape Hybrid gets 32mpg combined city/hwy, easily the best fuel economy of all SUVs.

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want to buy a fuel efficient car but which one?

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Lola

I am planning on purchasing a car very soon and so would love some suggestions or advices.
When I was a teen, I had a '97 honda civic which was a really great car but i believe that the standard/quality on hondas went down over the years. My parents bought a honda civic couple years ago and are not very happy with it. After Honda, I purchased Mazda Tribute and really loved the car! But it costs too much to fill up the gas tank, so I want something fuel efficient.
Im not that interested in electric or hybrid cars, plus I read some reviews on Smart Cars and besides fuel efficiency, the ratings are low.
Anything that you would recommend?

Answer
Now-a-days everybody wants to buy a fuel efficient car which doesnât affect the environment also. There are a large number of cars with the less fuel consumption. According to me the top ranked fuel efficient car of the previous year is the Toyota Camry Hybrid LE: 43/39 MP.

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what is the most fuel efficient car ever produced?

jeremybaye

what is the most fuel efficient car ever produced for the u.s market in say the last 20-30 years and dont say the prius, smart, or electric car.

Answer
http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Advsearch.do
search for all years (this search goes back to 2000), all states, all makes, with combined fuel economy greater than 30mpg...
The manual version of the Honda Insight (2000-2005), at 48mpg city/59mpg highway.
The 2004-current Toyota Prius, at 48mpg city/45mpg highway
The CVT version of the Honda Insight (2002-2006), at 45mpg city/49mpg highway.
The 2001-2003 Toyota Prius, at 42mpg city/41mpg highway.
The 2003-current Honda Civic Hybrid, at 40mpg city/45mpg highway.

You can also use http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bympg.htm to search by fuel economy (greater than some number) in a given year, back to 1994.

Someone mentioned a 1995 Honda Civic HB VX, which using the same 2008 testing numbers, was 39mpg city/50mpg highway. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/1995_Honda_Civic.shtml The 1990 Geo Metro XFI would come in at 43mpg city/51mpg highway. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/1990_Geo_Metro.shtml

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What is the most fuel efficient car and how much mile per gallon does it have?

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Dallas

How much miles per gallon does it have and how many gallons are there in the most fuel efficient car?

Answer
The Honda Insight is EPA rated 42 MPG combined highway/city and a cruising range of about 400 miles.

The most efficient hybrid car is the Toyota Prius which is rated 50 mpg combined and has a cruising range of over 500 miles on a tank of gas.

There are electric cars that will do better but you asked about miles per gallon which implies there is a gas powered engine somewhere.

The Chevy Volt is rated 94 mpg combined EQUIVALENT when running on just the battery and 36 mpg combined when running on its gas engine. The Volt can do about 35-40 miles just on it's battery, after which the gas engine will kick in to charge the battery.

What environmentally friendly car will be most beneficial?

celeron78

Hey, I'm writing a paper on the most beneficial environmentally friendly car. There are so many types of cars being made (water powered, fuel efficient, alternative fuel, electric power) that I don't know which one is most beneficial over the others. I was wondering if anyone knows about what type of car the world is favoring for the future?

Answer
I'll take a VW running on biodiesel over a hybrid anyday.

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