New BMW car will get an estimated 90 miles per gallon

[Still_Small_Voice]

BMW has introduced the i8 car. It is a hybrid sports car. It has an electric engine and a twin-turbocharged 1.5-liter 3-cylinder engine at the heart of it all. Alone the internal combustion engine is 231 horsepower.

The i8 can go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in only 4.4 seconds. It has a top speed of 155 miles per hour. BMW claims the car can get up to 94 miles per gallon. On electric power alone, the coupe can travel at speeds up to 75 miles per hour.

All this technology is paired to a six-speed automated gearbox, and an advanced all-wheel drive system which utilizes the lithium-ion battery.

The car can seat one driver and four passengers. No official pricing has been given, but rumor has it the i8 will fetch somewhere in the market of $136,000 when it hits BMW dealers this spring.

BMW i8 Electric Sportscar Makes World Debut [w/video] - Yahoo! Autos

[pam]

This kind of news just doesn't excite me. The average person could never afford this car.

[skippy740]

It's not built for us. It's built for all the "Hollywood" types who bought the Prius, but want a German status symbol for being 'green'.

[NeuroTypical]

I have a track record of buying the cheapest, most fuel-efficient cars available. When you drive 70+ miles a day, it's important.

Wake me when it's $20k new. Actually, wake me a few years after that, so I can buy one for $9k used.

[MarginOfError]

The bigger news in this is that the engineers may be overcoming many of the engineering limitations that will continue to prevent the expansion of electric cars in the market. After these limitations are conquered, the next step is to build a process that allows for the efficient mass production of the parts. Once that process can be developed (and integrated across an industry, not just a single model), the price point will start to come down.

The next challenge to overcome is powering these things. It turns out that, depending on where you life, running an electric car isn't much more environmentally friendly than running a gas powered car. If electricity in your area is provided by hydro or nuclear power, you're probably in a net gain for environmentalism. If you live in a coal-powered electrical grid, it's about the same as a gas vehicle.

But I'm in favor of continuing to develop the technology.

[Still_Small_Voice]

This technology we see in the BMW i8 will likely appear in future cars that are more affordable to the public. I am glad to see they are pushing the bar higher for gasoline mileage.

[Windseeker]

This looks pretty hopeful.

It gets 84 miles to the gallon on the highway with a range of around 672 miles.

Will cost $6,800.

Top speed is in excess of 100 MPH, and the 0-60 speed is under 9.6 seconds

Downside is it only fits two people.

Big plus is it's American Made!

Ultra High Mileage Car : Elio Motors

Edited September 11, 2013 by Windseeker

[Windseeker]

This looks pretty hopeful.

It gets 84 miles to the gallon on the highway with a range of around 672 miles.

Will cost $6,800.

Top speed is in excess of 100 MPH, and the 0-60 speed is under 9.6 seconds

Downside is it only fits two people.

Big plus is it's American Made!

Ultra High Mileage Car : Elio Motors

[EarlJibbs]

Let's put clean air on the side for a moment. Other than that, why would you buy it? Because it would be cheaper than gas? The more common eletric cars become, the more the shift will change to higher prices in electricity or taxes for owning one. Let's not forget that gasoline get's the government a ton of income and they are not going to let that just slide. I for one think that there is great tech out there (like this one) that would bennefit a lot more people that cant afford a $130,000 car that is being held back. For the same reason the US is so involved in the middle east... oil. It doesnt put a damper on revenue if a bunch of rich guys own this car. But can you imagine if we all did?

[NeuroTypical]

I'm hopeful for plug in cars, because if they do it right, we can time when the electricity is pulled out of the plug into the battery.

America's power grid powers up and down several times a day to fuel our habits. There are times when there's surplus capacity but nobody to use it. So, if plug in cars become widely used, they can draw from the coal power plants during off-peak times. So maybe not necessarily the big hike in electricity that some forecast.

How realistic my hope is, depends on who you ask. I don't know myself. But like MoE, I'm in favor of continuing to research and invent and solve problems.

[Still_Small_Voice]

Private ownership of solar and wind electricity power are also coming into play here. They can start jacking up electricity rates as demand increases but when we can generate our own power they will have to find tax revenue from somewhere else.

I am also tired of being at the mercy of foreign countries that can charge whatever they wish for oil.

[MarginOfError]

I'm hopeful for plug in cars, because if they do it right, we can time when the electricity is pulled out of the plug into the battery.

America's power grid powers up and down several times a day to fuel our habits. There are times when there's surplus capacity but nobody to use it. So, if plug in cars become widely used, they can draw from the coal power plants during off-peak times. So maybe not necessarily the big hike in electricity that some forecast.

How realistic my hope is, depends on who you ask. I don't know myself. But like MoE, I'm in favor of continuing to research and invent and solve problems.

Some of this technology exists already. We got a new, free thermostat control from our power company that communicates with the grid. it coordinates all of the air conditioners on the grid to operate in shifts so that the demand on the grid is more constant and predictable. It doesn't forbid our A/C from working, or limit the temperature...just manages it's load along with the other A/C in the area to optimize the energy flow.

[NeuroTypical]

Yep. Our utility company also has a thing available that turns off a water heater from 2am to 5am.

[Martin67]

Home solar systems in Nevada have become cost effective when you factor in federal tax credit. Electricity for running your ac is your main power usage in the desert. We plan on our next vehicle being a volt, in addition to having a home solAr system installed. Our car will then produce no emissions and we won't have to spend money on gas. As this new technology gets developed, it becomes more cost effective for mass consumption. The production costs of the volt have come down enough that the next generation vehicle will be 10,000 cheaper and actually start making a profit for chevy.

[bytebear]

This looks pretty hopeful.

It gets 84 miles to the gallon on the highway with a range of around 672 miles.

Will cost $6,800.

Top speed is in excess of 100 MPH, and the 0-60 speed is under 9.6 seconds

Downside is it only fits two people.

Big plus is it's American Made!

Ultra High Mileage Car : Elio Motors

I hope this comes to fruition. This would be perfect for me. I work about 3 miles from home, and have an SUV for grocery shopping and long trips, so a little putt putt to get me to work and back would be perfect.

[Canuck Mormon]

Don't forget the Chevrolet Volt. 100mpge, $35000, and if your commute is less than 40 miles, you'll hardly ever use gas. There have been reports of people not buying gas for over 2 months, and when they do, it's $40!

2014 Volt: Electric Car - Hybrid Car | Chevrolet

[Still_Small_Voice]

I hope others have a better experience with the Chevrolet Volt cars than I have had in the past. I had some valid customer complaints about a Chevrolet car I bought from them in 2006 that had only 7,500 miles on the odometer. Chevrolet blew off my complaints and could not care less.

I have swore off all General Motors cars since. I may perhaps buy a used General Motors car in the future if it is not from a dealer, but they are low on my list.

[NightSG]

Hmmm...I have a 97 Saturn getting 29MPG most of the time, and 34 on the interstate. I paid $700 and put maybe another $500 in parts into it so far. That leaves $124,000 to pay for gas if I don't buy the BMW. 948,000 miles worth of fuel.

Of course, after looking at some of C&D's reports on new model BMWs and what they consider "normal," they may be bragging about 90 miles per gallon of oil.

Frankly, I'm probably being greener than they are by keeping this 260,000 mile old car out of the wrecking yard for a few more years.

[mnn727]

The next challenge to overcome is powering these things. It turns out that, depending on where you life, running an electric car isn't much more environmentally friendly than running a gas powered car. If electricity in your area is provided by hydro or nuclear power, you're probably in a net gain for environmentalism. If you live in a coal-powered electrical grid, it's about the same as a gas vehicle.

But I'm in favor of continuing to develop the technology.

The difference between having a gas powered and an electrical powered car is that we continue to import oil from countries that for the most part hate us, where as most electricity comes from coal or natural gas, both of which we have plenty of, right in this country - in fact we have enough that we export both.

[Windseeker]

Don't forget hydrogen cars.

If we can get the infrastructure I think this technology looks way more promising. We could use it for aircraft too.

Fill 'er up with hydrogen? - Aug. 15, 2013

[Windseeker]

I hope this comes to fruition. This would be perfect for me. I work about 3 miles from home, and have an SUV for grocery shopping and long trips, so a little putt putt to get me to work and back would be perfect.

I think it's going to happen. Take a look at the this company's board of directors. There are some heavy weights there.

[Still_Small_Voice]

Hydrogen cars will never happen unless they discover a way to make cheap hydrogen. Presently hydrogen is about twice the cost of gasoline per gallon.

Natural gas cars also are not good as I have researched. Someone who uses one for work told me the catalytic converters melt and the tanks that hold the natural gas are very expensive. The tanks have to be inspected every 36,0000 miles or three years. If they fail inspection expect to pay over $4,000 for replacement tanks.

[Martin67]

The volt has received the highest satisfaction ratings from its owners two years in a row. I started researching them when I met a colleague who had one and raved about it.