New York 2008: And the Green World Car of the Year is ...
Efficient Dynamics has claimed its first scalps of the year, taking the World Car of the Year Green Award. The three finalists were all Rudolph's children, being of the diesel variety: the BMW 118d, the smart fortwo cdi, and the Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDi BlueMotion. The specific rationale for choosing the BMW wasn't given, but the roominess, real world practicality, miserly emissions and fuel needs, and Efficient Dynamics are probably all good suspects. It's a nifty little car and a well deserved award, so kudos to you, BMW. Now if you could get that diesel Isetta going, we'd really get to cheering for you.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
eliot 12:21PM (3/20/2008)
Thats exactly what I want. A silver 5 door diesel 1 series. How much is shipping to the S States?
I wonder if I could have imported the once I saw in 2006 for $12,000 pounds? 45mpg room for stuff and its German. All for 24000 US I want it.
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rgseidl 12:20PM (3/20/2008)
The BMW 1 series is many things, but roomy and practical aren't among them. Neither is cheap. Then again, these awards, like the Oscars, aren't handed out on the objective merits but on how much schmoozing the marketing folks do.
The new Isetta, rumored to be a platform below the Mini that BMW may decide to build, is motivated in part by California's ZEV mandate. BMW expects to be affected by MY2012, so it needs a pure BEV. Variants will likely feature ICEs, though meeting T2B5 emissions with a small diesel would be very expensive relative to total vehicle cost.
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mike 6:04PM (3/20/2008)
Yes, we all want it, but we've got to wait for BMW to offset it's efficiency with a V12 guzzler. So that Management gets it's kickback from ExxonMobile.
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Mirko 5:09AM (3/25/2008)
Where is the 45 mpg figure from? It's rated at 4.5 l/100km in the European cycle, which translates to 52 mpg US.
After test driving one, it's clear that I'll get one. Yes it's not that roomy or cheap, but it's fantastic to drive and very economical.
The picture in the article shows a pre-Efficient Dynamics 1-series. differnet front bumper, grille, headlights give it away.
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mbasi1011 11:51AM (4/04/2008)
The 118d kicks ass. I drove a rented one from Munich to Berlin, averaging more than 150 km/h on the Autobahn. Fuel consumption was below 6l/100km which impressed me.
Besides, it's a very agile, fun to drive RWD.
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Lenny S 9:02PM (11/15/2008)
I agree with mbasi1011. I rented a 118d 6-speed manual for a week in Germany. It easily held our large bag, roll-on carry on and a couple of duffel bags under the rear hatch cover, so no one knew we had luggage. It was fun to drive and I got about 15 km/liter or about 45+ mpg and we did a lot of local driving, and I stayed off the autobahn as we wanted to take "the scenic route". I used to have an old mercedes diesel and this was nothing like that turtle. It had pick-up and no odor. Only time I knew it was really a diesel was when I took off the fuel cap to fill it. Although there isn't a lot of headroom (I'm 5'10"), the car gave a comfortable ride and the seats were good, with no complaints from my wife about her back. It easily held four adults. Too bad they aren't importing them, but if they were available here at $30,000 US, it would be a great buy, even with our ridiculous diesel prices (In Germany, diesel is the cheapest fuel available by a couple of pennies)
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