BMW's fuel efficient Mini continues to go from strength to strength. It's been around many years now and continues to be a success. All types of Mini are available now. Besides the standard Cooper you can get extra power from the turbocharged Cooper S. There's the Works Mini for even more performance and a convertible Mini. The Clubman is a longer Mini in the style of a station wagon with barn doors at the rear. Soon BMW will add a soft roader (probably the latter half of 2010) and an electric Mini to the ranks. Their newest Mini however, is the release of an updated soft top.
The new fuel efficient convertible is available as the familiar Mini Cooper and Cooper S breeds.
More...
Oct 09: In 2013 we're going to see new emissions regulations in force in
the European Union. The new levels of CO2 compliance will be quite tough
for manufacturers to satisfy but already
Toyota's fuel efficient
vehicles have done it.
Toyota are the very first manufacturer to meet these new emission guidelines
and its yet another example of their dedication to being a green company.
Toyota are keen to spread the word that its not only their hybrid Prius
thats environmentally friendly, but the whole company. Toyota make some
very economical internal combustion engines which has no doubt helped in
achieving this latest accolade but there's another reason. Toyota do not
have any all out performance cars in their range.
More...
July 09: By cleverly combining an internal combustion engine with something
similar to a steam engine, BMW have given us a new type of hybrid. The new
technology is called a
turbosteamer and could herald a
further jump in
fuel efficient vehicles. Internal combustion
engines by their nature get very hot and emit hot gases. All this heat is
wasted energy and is not used (apart from keeping you warm in winter!).
If this heat energy could be recaptured and reused it would make the whole
process a lot more fuel efficient. This is exactly what the turbosteamer
does.
More...
You wanted an eco-friendly car, one of the
most fuel efficient vehicles
around, so you bought yourself a 3 cylinder 1 litre micro car. The problem
is you're 5 cylinders short of the throbbing V8 you still secretly lust
over in this new environmentally aware world. There is a solution - SoundRacer.
Now even the most fuel efficient vehicles can sound like a V8 with SoundRacer.
More...
Supercar makers needed to do something to strengthen their green credentials.
Its just not cool anymore to have a car thats outrageously bad for the environment.
They would definitely be looking at a fall in sales if they didn't change
with the times. Now Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini are all investing a
lot of effort and money into creating more efficient vehicles both to satisfy
customers and to meet new CO2 regulations being introduced in Europe in
2014 and the U.S.A. two years later. Supercars currently have terrible fuel
economy. The Lamborghini Murcielago uses about six times as much gas as
a Smart Car!
Porsche will be selling hybrid cars as soon as 2011, but it'll only be hybrid
versions of the Cayenne SUV and Panamera sedan, which are definitely not
supercars. They have no plans to hybridize their top model, the 911 sportscar.
Lamborghini hope to lower fleet carbon dioxide
More...
The Toyota Prius fuel efficiency vehicle has been highly successful since
its launch back in 2004. Its hard to believe this industry changing car
has been around that long. Five years later and many manufacturers still
only have their hybrids on the drawing board. The unique aerodynamic shape
of the Prius was a defining feature of the futuristic new hybrid technology
by Toyota and the car maker has largely kept the shape the same for the
latest version of this amazing
fuel efficiency vehicle.
The Prius powertrain is a hybrid system consisting of a 1.8 liter 73 kW
petrol engine and a 60kW electric motor. Performance on the road is comparable
to most other standard family hatchbacks. Its no sports car but its not
designed to be. The Prius has amazing fuel efficiency. This economical car
returns gas mileage figures of 51 mpg around town and 48 mpg on the open
road. No other family car of this size with a traditional internal combustion
engine can come anywhere close to this vehicle for fuel efficiency. Tailpipe
emissions are also very good at just 89g of CO2 per km.
As with most other Toyota's, the Prius leads the way in build quality.
More...
China will produce 11 million vehicles this year, the overwhelming majority
of which will be sold locally within the country. This amazing figure is
more than both the US and Japanese and will make China the worlds largest
car maker. With lots of cheap labour to call on, China and another Asian
powerhouse, India, are capable of building cars that are very competitive
on price and this means we could see fuel efficient vehicles priced lower
than today. The main problem these two Asian countries face is the level
of build quality they're able to deliver in such a budget fuel efficiency
vehicle. It remains to be seen whether their cars will appeal internationally.
We will soon see many new fuel efficient vehicles from China and India.
Car production from these two countries is rapidly expanding and one area
they are going to concentrate their resources on is the economical car market.
China will become the worlds largest car producer this year which is remarkable
considering we don't really see any Chinese cars on our roads at the moment.
China wants to change this and if they are successful in selling cars abroad
their car output will expand at an even faster rate. India built 2.3 million
vehicles last year, and are also looking to break into the overseas car
market.
More...
Alfa Romeo has ventured into the world of sporty
fuel-efficient
vehicles with its new MiTo which will challenge the Mini Cooper.
The two MiTo models available are a direct price rival to the two Mini Cooper
models. The base model MiTo will compete with the base Mini Cooper while
the MiTo Sport is up against the Mini Cooper S. Since its 2001 launch the
Mini has been highly successful and Alfa Romeo hope to steal some customers
with its own blend of fuel-efficient vehicle, stylish design and sports
handling.
Alfa Romeo have not produced a car as small as the MiTo to date and the
new fuel-efficient vehicle will sit below the current 147 in terms of size.
The MiTo shares its chassis with parent company Fiat's Grande Punto. Whereas
the Mini is based on a vehicle of the past, the MiTo is not but it is supposed
to be the spiritual successor to the Alfasud of the 70's and 80's. Its a
very pretty vehicle, combining classic Alfa Romeo design elements with hints
of Alfa's limited edition sports car, the 8C Competizione.
Half of Mini purchases are by females while the 30-45 age group are the
largest buyers of these fuel-efficient vehicles according to BMW. Alfa Romeo
are therefore also aiming the MiTo directly at these groups. Alfa Romeo's
current buyers are usually between 45-60
More...
Most fuel-efficient vehicles in production are mini or subcompact cars with
tiny engines. Some of them have advanced diesel engines while others have
3 or 4 cylinder petrol engines. Fuel-efficient vehicles tend to be lightweight
and many have narrow wheels providing little rolling resistance.
The most economical cars can return fuel mileage figures in excess of 60
mpg compared to some large V8's which manage less than 20 mpg. This means
that these efficient cars will cost you less than a third in gas costs compared
to some V8's. In addition maintenance and other running costs will also
be a fraction of the cost.
The most fuel-efficient vehicles can save you a lot of money and these days
they are also surprisingly fun to drive.
More...
Welcome to Fuel-Efficient Vehicles!
On this website you'll be able to find out which cars are the most fuel-efficient
vehicles in production. We'll not only tell you about tiny micro cars, but
you'll discover which family cars are the most efficient, which station
wagons, which sports cars and which SUV's are the most efficient.
There's going to be detailed reviews of the most economical cars so you'll
know that you're not only buying a fuel efficient car but a good quality
car in all other areas. We'll tell you the truth about the safety of micro
cars.
Finally, we'll also provide you with the latest news relating to efficient
cars - all the latest technology to emerge and new vehicles to be released.
The fuel-efficient vehicle market
More...