Why don't cars get better fuel economy? Shouldn't we all drive hybrids? The answer to the first question is that manufacturers build the best fuel economy cars they can at a price buyers can afford. The answer to the second question is that we probably shouldn't all drive hybrids. They are expensive to build and will be very expensive to repair in the future. But let's look into what is and will be available if fuel economy is your top priority for car purchase.

It is very clear that Americans really do not want high economy cars. They are built for markets elsewhere in the world, but not sold here -- and could be. These all are smaller cars than are available here today. Manufacturers in the U.S. claim that they can't make small cars at a profit in the U.S., but why not import cars made elsewhere? Oh, we all know that Americans don't buy small (really small) cars. They buy huge SUVs. Bigger is always better in the U.S.

This isn't likely to change in the near future unless gas prices spike higher and stay there. Americans think that making manufacturers and importers make vehicles with more fuel economy via CAFÉ, they will get vehicles with higher economy. As I said, competition makes builders make the highest economy cars that technology will allow today, given the requirement that they be affordable. All higher CAFÉ means is that vehicles will get more expensive and the bigger ones will get even more expensive because the manufacturers won't build many to keep their CAFÉ within standards. What really would work in our market place would be higher gas taxes, but we all know that won't happen.

Okay, what is available outside the U.S today?

Before I give you an example, remember that the Smart car will be available soon and it really is small. Will it sell? I wonder, given that the project fuel economy is just a paltry 45mpg or so. That is well within the range of a Prius.

In Europe, however, Volkswagen makes a smaller-than-Golf car, the Polo. A friend and I rented one for a vacation several years ago and it was perfectly acceptable cruising and carrying our luggage. But these days, there is a special "eco-Polo" for sale. For size reference, think Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, and Toyota Yaris. There are two versions, both coming with a 1.4-liter three-cylinder diesel engine. The body has special aerodynamic features and it runs on special low rolling resistance tires (like the Prius).

This car with the "low trim" specification, the BlueMotion 1, gets you 74.3 miles/gallon. Now that's fuel economy! Also it is rated at 99g/km of CO₂. This barely gets under the special tax-incentive level in Europe of 100g/km of CO₂.

Now if you want air conditioning and several other niceties, you get the BlueMotion 2. It gets just 70.6 miles/gallon, and emits 104g/km of CO₂.

The prices in England are $23,000 for the BlueMotion 1 and $1800 more for the BlueMotion 2. As a reference, in England, the Prius starts at $36,000 and emits 113g/km of CO₂. Another reference might be the BMW 335i in England. The price starts at $66,000 and emits 228g/km of CO₂.

Of course, you're not likely to see the eco-Polo in the United States in the near future. VW has never had any sensible marketing policy here.

What's possible?

Volkswagen built a special prototype for Ferdinand Piëch when he "retired" in 2002. This car seats two comfortably and cruised to the last Board meeting on the Autobahn. It is small and seats two one behind the other. As you can see from the picture, it is very aerodynamic, but is built to be street legal in Germany. It is 138.8 inches long, but is just 50 inches wide. It is powered by a one-cylinder 0.3-liter diesel engine. Yes, that is almost lawn mower size. The very high-technology car is built entirely from magnesium and carbon fiber so it weighs just 640 pounds! That's really astonishing and means that the 8.5 horsepower engine gives the car real performance.

What is the fuel economy? It was built to be a real driveable "One Liter" car. That means that it goes 100 kilometers on just 1 liter of fuel. In American, that is 235 miles per gallon. In the real world of Autobahn and city traffic from the Volkswagen tech center in Wolfsburg to the Board meeting in Hamburg, it got 0.89 liters per 100 km. That is 264 miles per gallon. And this was with Piëch driving and Bernd Pischetsrieder, the then VW president, riding behind him. That is what happens when cost is no object. But also note that this car was built five years ago. The new eco-Polo probably used some of the technology developed for the prototype.

The X-Prize people now have a contest going for highly efficient cars. Remember, these are the people who sponsored the reusable spacecraft prize and others.

Their standards for entry are simple, but difficult to compare to today's cars. The standards are: First, 100 miles per gallon "equivalent". This means that whatever the car uses, whether it is electricity or coal, the equivalent gasoline economy is calculated. Second, the car must emit less than 200g/mi of CO2. That's 124g/km so it can be compared to the cars I've talked about. Note that it isn't all that restrictive. And last, the cars must meet tier II, bin 5 emissions. Those are met by some of today's cars. These measurements will be made using standard CAFÉ dynamometer measurements as well as special races set up by the X-Prize people. These are pass/fail standards.

There will be two classes of vehicles accepted for the contest. The "mainstream" class is for four+ passenger vehicles with four+ wheels that meet "conventional" expectations for size and capability. The other class is the "alternative" class. It is for contestants who want to push the envelope (see the VW prototype above). They must have space for two+ people and can have any number of wheels.

The winners will be the result of judging by a committee of people who have little or no connection to existing manufacturers (Honda was the only one I saw). These are supposed to be real-world vehicles that can be made in today's factories with today's technology. Therefore the judges will evaluate the safety, cost, and features of each one. Also the business plan for production will be evaluated.

The schedule for this contest is that the final rules will be released this year. I mid-2008, the various categories for judging mentioned in the previous paragraph will be evaluated. The year will conclude with the first qualifying race. The race should be interesting as it has yet to be "designed". It will supposedly be technology neutral, but hopefully will consider acceleration, braking, and handling. The final race will be held in late 2009. The prize will be awarded following the race.

That means that any production car that might appear with the technology demonstrated will be well into the next decade. That's a long time in the future. We need high-mileage cars now!