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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd It is not possible to make a 4 passenger sedan with the same interior room and trunk space as a Ford Focus with heat, air conditioning, and that will meet federal crashworthiness standards that will get more than 100 mpg, no matter what shape it is or how you power it. 250 mpg is just silly. You might as well be talking about pedal-powered commercial aircraft! [/quote] I'd hazard saying that it is possible. It would require quite revolutionary approach - in terms of design (power transfer, aerodynamics etc), but it is possible to get to that magical 250 mpg. A few things to consider: Weight - current cars are terrible in a matter load/tare weight. Accelerating the vehicle is pretty much accelerating dead weight - and a fuel hog at the same time. Now - personal motorized vehicle may weight about 300-350 lb - compare to 2000-3000 of the current cars. 4 Person verion may be 400-500 lb. Aerodynamics - a car at 60 mph is towing several _tons_ of air. Since the air drag goes up with a square of speed - biggest gains can be obtained there. The said 250 mpg car will attempt to streamline the body and reduce frontal area. The seating position will be much more reclined in effect and the whole vehicle a tad longer then current cars. Drivetrain - current cars are terrible here. Power transfer to the wheels is at most 70% efficient. Usually lower. In a comparsion - a chain drive with a planetary gearbox will be about 95% efficient (pure chain is 98-99% efficent). The requirement: the vehicle has to be a trike (rear wheel driven, two front wheels). As a bonus we get lower rolling resistance. None of this is actual rocket science - but such ultra light vehicle will easily get to at least 150-200 mpg, and with some refinement 250 mpg. The point is however, that oil is dirt cheap - so current cars are what they are - big and heavy fuel hogs. You really underestimate how much energy is stored in a gallon of fuel :)
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