Wired Magazine January 2008 cover: the race to make 100 MPG car
The cover story of the January 2008 issue of Wired Magazine is "100 MPG! The Race To Build The Ultimate Fuel Efficient Car." The article is all about the X-Prize, which will award $10 Million to the maker of the most fuel efficient car. A short video with a test drive of the Aptera, one car in the X-Prize competition, is at the website. Wired also follows the smaller Illuminati Motor Works, another team in the competition, as they search for the design of the car of tomorrow. GM's Bob Lutz was asked about the competition and he says:We fully endorse the X Prize. ... but we just cannot divert ourselves from the business at hand. ... We're really not that interested in technology as a science-fair project.
Bob is working on GM's new electric car, the Volt, which hopes to be on the road very soon at close to 100 MPG. The rules of the X-Prize competition, which officially starts early in 2008, are still being finalized and will include not just fuel efficiency but a car design that can be mass produced, at a reasonable price while being safe and comfortable. So hopefully, this prize won't be like the Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean to win the Raymond Orteig prize and will lead to real products.
Recently, Wired Magazine also did a cover story on ethanol and the special test issue included a Smart Fortwo on the cover.
Related:
[Source: Wired Magazine thanks to a tip from Elmo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ron Wagner 8:15PM (2/03/2008)
The problem is the extreme complexity of figuring out how much it will cost to keep the batteries or other systems running, the electricity cost, the higher initial cost, insurance cost etc. What we really care about is how useful the vehicle is, and what it costs to keep over its lifetime.
I think that the important thing is that it will be less expensive, and greener than the best current vehicles. Hopefully we will eventually eliminate all internal combustion engines, as they are inherently wasteful of energy. Heat and frictin loss is too great.
Reply
david 10:33AM (4/18/2008)
check out www.newcarstartpage.com and you can research every make and model car sold in the usa..
www.new car start page .com
Reply
jojo 6:23PM (1/26/2009)
http://www.BuyProofofIncome.com and Print out Fake Employment and Fake Income, Wages, 1099, w2, w-2, using your home computer printer! www.ProofofEmployment.com Forge Fake Proof Made Easy tax return refund fraud!
Reply
Eric Boyd 2:50AM (12/28/2007)
If you'd like to know more about the Automotive X Prize, check out my quick summary of the rules:
http://xprizecars.com/2007/12/automotive-x-prize-rules.php
Or, I've got stat pages on many of the teams/cars who have send in their "letters of intent":
http://xprizecars.com/
GM's Chevy Volt is a very interesting car, but it will not qualify for the AXP - GM hopes it will get about 50 MPGe, which is not close to 100 :-(
Cheers!
Eric
Reply
peloponeso 3:15AM (12/28/2007)
nice... http://www.increible.mactanque.com
Reply
dman 6:00AM (12/28/2007)
[spam - removed]
Reply
Lascelles Linton 6:32AM (12/28/2007)
Eric, I added your link to rules to the article. Thanks.
Reply
Snowdog 9:51AM (12/28/2007)
Where does GM say the Volt will get near 100MPG? The only number I have seen is targeting about 50mpg for steady state. Or is that another pulled from the nether regions number like the Aptera dubious 300MPG number? I believe the real number for the Aptera is about ~120mpg.
Reply
Golden Boy 11:55AM (12/28/2007)
Doesn't the electric part of the Volt complicate mpg? I drive under 40 miles per day, so wouldn't my mileage be infinite?
Reply
Lascelles Linton 12:04PM (12/28/2007)
Snowdog, That's a fairly complicated question as Golden Boy points out but they have said 40 mile range battery and I have read 500 or more with the "range extender." How efficient is that engine... well, it uses different fuels and I could get into detail but look out for a post by me later today. That should tell you how efficient the Volt will be ;D
Reply
Snowdog 1:19PM (12/28/2007)
I am tired of numbers pulled from the ether or nether regions.
ABG is ridiculous in its journalistic standards. The main articles are riddled with inaccuracies and it is bad enough to quote other inaccuracies, but it is worse when you make up your own.
Quoting them would be like Apteras 300mpg number. If there where any integrity we would see some questioning of the number instead of hyping it.
Going by the information on Apteras own page, if you fully charge the Aptera and put 1 gallon of gas in it, it won't go anywhere near 300 miles.
In truth the Aptera gets closer to 100mpg after the battery is depleted and it is in range extended mode.
Just like GM is "aiming" for 50mpg in range extender mode.
In battery mode you can claim any number you pull from your nether regions up to infinity. So if you leave standard lax like this, PHEV makers can hype whatever number they chose. It is TOTALLY MEANINGLESS.
You might think Aptera might have at least chosen a n MPG number that they could could sustain for say 1 Gallon?? But no they didn't even go that far in picking their ridiculous number.
Here is the Volt faq and a quote from it:
http://www.gm-volt.com/chevy-volt-faqs/
"
Q: How many miles per gallon will the Chevy Volt get?
A: A bit of a trick question. For the first 40 miles it will get infinite mpg, because no gas will be burned. When the generator starts, the car will get an equivalent of 50 mpg thereafter.
"
Tell me what number do you think has any meaning, the 50 mpg one, or an arbitrary random number between 50mpg and infinite mpg?
There is only one sane way to record PHEV economy: Battery range, and battery depleted MPG.
It will be interesting to see how the EPA will test/rate PHEVs. Perhaps we will see the end of these ridiculous claims, but then again, these days the EPA seems more like an industry profit protection than environment protection agency.
Reply
Lascelles Linton 2:03PM (12/28/2007)
Snowdog, That's not actually the official FAQ but yeah, that gets you to about 100 if you add them up. The E-flex in Europe uses diesel and I think the US version is flex fuel, so 90 is probably the mid rage. Anyway, I don't think it was made up and I don't make up numbers. I really only said to explain why GM said 100 MPG is not a fair for them. There was really no reason to get into how plug-in hybrids might be rated when it came to mileage. I have written about how the EPA might rate plug-ins and I think they should assume people won't plug-in which could cut range in half. I doubt the debate will be settled them.
Reply
GoodCheer 3:59PM (12/28/2007)
Lascelles: I have to side with SnowDog (though I'm less irate about the matter than he). If you publish mileage numbers in your article, than there ABSOLUTELY IS a reason to discuss "how plug-in hybrids might be rated when it came to mileage".
If you don't have some standard for what the number you are publishing means, than it means nothing... If you don't know what 'standard' is being used, than I really think you should refrain from repeating any company's numbers.
Reply
GoodCheer 4:05PM (12/28/2007)
BTW: Aptera's 300 mpg number is reputedly based on 120 miles of driving, while the Volt's 100 mpg is based on 80 miles of driving (with both vehicles starting from a full charge).
Reply
Lascelles Linton 5:30PM (12/28/2007)
Goodcher, GM has used the joined numbers and I don't see anything wrong with that number. There is really no reason to explain it in such detail in an article it could have been left out. I really can't wait to see what you two think of Bob Lutz's comment on the Volt's fuel efficiency...
Reply