Porsche

On 1 March 2010 Porsche presented the concept car Porsche 918 Spyder in Geneva. It is supposed to combine the performance of a super-sports car with the CO2 emissions of a small compact. They claim that they can reduce emissions to just 70 grams CO2 per kilometre and fuel consumption to 3.0 litres/100 kilometres (94 mpg imp).

Those are theoretical figures which in “normal” use – I expect – will be different. Nevertheless, if it would come anywhere close to, say, 4-5 litres that would be pretty amazing I have to admit. However, if driving with electricity only the range is 25km. That’s just enough to get to the next supermarket (or gas station).

Other figures: The V8 power unit delivers more than 500 hp and the three electric motors have an overall output of 160 kW. Maximum speed is 320 km/h.

This car is not only a highlight in efficiency it is also very well designed. Check out the video (in German). However, I wouldn’t buy one of these cars as for me there is no real use for them (where to put luggage?). I expect it would be a lot of fun to drive one though.

I think with the Porsche 918 Spyder we see a positive trend: Finally the car manufacturers seem to take fuel efficiency seriously. And surprise, apparently there is/was still a lot of room for improvement.