[ExI] Fuel efficient car for anywhere but America

[BillK]

On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 7:05 AM, The Avantguardian  wrote:
>
>
> http://www.greencar.com/articles/vw-polo-bluemotion-tops-70-mpg.php
>
>
> This car runs on diesel, has a top speed of 109 mph, has lower CO2 emissions
> than a Prius,on and gets a whopping 70 miles to the gallon.
>
> So here is a riddle for you:
> Why can't we get this in North America?
>
>


Because you've been naughty and don't deserve it!     ;)

No, really it is because
1) US gas prices(including tax) need to double to get nearer to
European prices before economical cars become a significant user
demand.
2) The very economical European cars tend to be too small for US preferences.

This article is from 2008 and there are now in 2011 many standard
production European cars (diesel or hybrid) that will get over 70 mpg
on mixed city / freeway driving (called combined cycle mpg). You have
to adjust for US gallons, though, by dividing by 1.2.   So 70 mpg
European = 58.3 mpg US - quite a difference!

Use
<http://carfueldata.direct.gov.uk/search-by-fuel-economy.aspx>
to search for over 50 cars with better than 70 mpg (European).


BillK