I was arguing for a single-seat vehicle, and made an arguement for a sub-compact already on the market. But incorporating the Kia Rio into my previous arguement that an approximate 70 percent mass reduction in motor vehicles would reduce fuel consumption by the same amount....
The Kia Rio has a mass of 2403 lbs and a 104 hp engine, gets about 30 mpg and seats five. If the vehicle were redesigned to seat only the driver, weight and horsepower were lowered by 80 percent to 480 lbs and 21 hp.... (notice this is close to my prior estimate for a single-seat car for sustainable ethanol consumption) .... then it would get about 150 mpg. Not perfectly consistent, but close. I doubt the cost would be reduced to $1850, and would probably increase significantly due to more expensive materials and fabrication. But to achieve sustainability that will likely be the trade-off.
It's probably pointless to argue anyway, since the current subcompact is so inexpensive. The cost of fuel would have to increase astronomically to make further weight reductions worthwhile.
Space/Science » in reply to What do most people use cars for?
My arguement was out of context
The whole thread (29 posts)
- Looking for advances in ethanol production
- "The breakthrough would be low-cost cellulose-using technology."
- Fuel economy improvements
- Lowering ethanol production costs