27 Roadsters are currently assembled, and plans are to produce 100 cars a month by end of 2008. Tesla CEO Ze’ev Drori has sent a note to customers in which he stated that Tesla has finally “broken the logjam” and finally delivered 9 Roadsters to Customers in California.
Volkswagen revealed the world’s most economical road car, with an average fuel consumption of just 0.99 litres per 100 kilometres. The so called 1-litre car looks more like a sports car than a typical efficiency optimized vehicle. It is 3.47 metres long, 1.25 metres wide and just over a metre in height. To save weight, it is made of carbon composites and is not even painted.
German Loremo AG has developed an “Ultra Efficient Car” which uses only 1.5 Litres of fuel per 100km, which is is approximately 157 Miles to the Gallon. This is three times as efficient as the popular Toyota Prius hybrid that delivers 55 MPG. Loremo’s Car named “LS” is an extremely light-weight passenger car with outstanding aerodynamics, powered by a 2 cylinder Turbo Diesel engine with only 20 HP. Despide the small engine the Top Speed is still 160km/h.
From the mid-70s to 1990, the average fuel economy of vehicles on U.S. streets doubled from about 15 to 28 miles to the gallon. But another 15 years later, in 2005 it had dropped to 24 mpg. Driving a fuel-efficient car will save money on gas, of course, but such also has other, broader, effects.