[mrtew]

I agree with the gist of the original question. If you can put millions of people in large vehicles that they clearly either need or want and improve their mileage substantially (I just read a review of the new 364 HP Tahoe Hybrids that get 20mpg) you'll save a lot more gas than putting a couple people in tiny, slow, unsafe imaginary 100mpg concept cars. Sure if we all drove cars that got mileage like the Prius we'd use a third as much gas as we use now, but obviously most American's don't want to drive small cars like that, they tried it after the gas shortages of the 70's and went back to big cars. And before you start telling me about the Europeans keep in mind that the European car companies that make so much money in America sell mostly gas guzzlers that make American car companies look like their being run by Al Gore.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

The VW Polo gets about 62 mpg (Volkswagen's Polo Blue Motion: 62 MPG of Diesel-Sipping Fun (TreeHugger)). In that same article there's a link to a diesel concept car that gets nearly 160 mpg.

That's cool. So 62 mpg, is that US gallons or imperial gallons? If the latter, that means 51 miles per US gallon. And that's the spec; if it lives up to spec in real driving like the hybrids reportedly do, that's more like 45 or even 40 mpg. And isn't diesel fuel more energy dense than gasoline to start with? I'm still excited, but not overly...its numbers may or may not be anywhere near the numbers we're used to dealing with in our actual cars. What ever happend to the Tesla? Did it meet expectations in real world driving?

[iLikebeer]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

That's cool. So 62 mpg, is that US gallons or imperial gallons? If the latter, that means 51 miles per US gallon. And that's the spec; if it lives up to spec in real driving like the hybrids reportedly do, that's more like 45 or even 40 mpg. And isn't diesel fuel more energy dense than gasoline to start with? I'm still excited, but not overly...its numbers may or may not be anywhere near the numbers we're used to dealing with in our actual cars. What ever happend to the Tesla? Did it meet expectations in real world driving?

That's probably US gallons. The VW TDIs usually get 5-10mpg better than epa.

Check out this site for all the TDI details you can dream of. TDIClub Forums - Powered by vBulletin

[Eriamjh]

It is impossible to save gasoline. You use more or you use less. You don't save it at all (like money).
It is better to calculate total cost.

Believe it or not, some people will use the 15 to 18 mpg argument to say that it's not worth it to have 50 mpg cars.

What the above does show is that it is better to increase the mileage on the highest-selling yet lowest efficiency vehicles. It's called taking the biggest bite out of the biggest piece. Do that and you will save the most gas. Continue doing it and you will make the most improvement in total use over time.

There are no 50 mpg cars out there in the real world being used everyday. There are a lot of 15mpgers. Replace those first.

[JohnM15141]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

...
There are no 50 mpg cars out there in the real world being used everyday. There are a lot of 15mpgers. Replace those first.

I beg to differ, I use mine just about everyday and my average mileage since purchase in May of 2000 is 57.9MPG...

However, I see your point, this question is pointless, its like asking a fat person to eat a few calories less to save food for others. ha ha!

Any question with real value would set its sight on the bottom line: consumption. Obviously the 100MPG car would consume less gas and hands down be the correctchoice or goal to set our sights on!