Official 2012 Fiat 500 fuel economy numbers fall short of 40 mpg
#16
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#18
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Guys, instead of bashing the 500 for its not so impressive fuel economy, its important to understand the following.
There's only so many energy units in a gallon of petrol, and no matter how you spin it, a certain number of energy units is required to keep a car moving. Decreasing the engine size and number of cylinders does not automatically guarantee better fuel economy, because it will just have to work harder to produce that number of energy units. A marginal increase in fuel economy might be realized due to lower weight of the smaller engine, and less moving parts (less friction) in engines with less cylinders.
Decreasing the weight/size of the car also does not provide as much of a benefit as you might think. Once the cars are rolling at steady speed, there's really not much difference between a large SUV and a tiny econobox. If anyone has ever pushed a stalled car, you'll know that the hardest thing is to push it off the line, once its rolling on a flat surface, there isn't much effort required. Most of the difference in fuel consumption of heavy car vs light econobox is during acceleration. Of course, once you reach high rates of speed, aerodynamics come into play as well, but that isn't much of a concern for modern cars either.
The bottom line is, modern cars and modern internal combustion engines have reached the peak of their efficiency. Don't expect someone with a magic wand to make a car that achieves more than 40mpg without hybrid technology.
Also, as someone noted, the old EPA ratings of 50mpg for old cars will not translate to the same rating today - it will be right about 35mpg at best.
With that being said, owning a minimalistic econobox such as the Fiat 500 can often translate into economy on expenses other than fuel. Cheaper repairs, less parts to break, easier to find parking, possible cheaper insurance, and so on.
There's only so many energy units in a gallon of petrol, and no matter how you spin it, a certain number of energy units is required to keep a car moving. Decreasing the engine size and number of cylinders does not automatically guarantee better fuel economy, because it will just have to work harder to produce that number of energy units. A marginal increase in fuel economy might be realized due to lower weight of the smaller engine, and less moving parts (less friction) in engines with less cylinders.
Decreasing the weight/size of the car also does not provide as much of a benefit as you might think. Once the cars are rolling at steady speed, there's really not much difference between a large SUV and a tiny econobox. If anyone has ever pushed a stalled car, you'll know that the hardest thing is to push it off the line, once its rolling on a flat surface, there isn't much effort required. Most of the difference in fuel consumption of heavy car vs light econobox is during acceleration. Of course, once you reach high rates of speed, aerodynamics come into play as well, but that isn't much of a concern for modern cars either.
The bottom line is, modern cars and modern internal combustion engines have reached the peak of their efficiency. Don't expect someone with a magic wand to make a car that achieves more than 40mpg without hybrid technology.
Also, as someone noted, the old EPA ratings of 50mpg for old cars will not translate to the same rating today - it will be right about 35mpg at best.
With that being said, owning a minimalistic econobox such as the Fiat 500 can often translate into economy on expenses other than fuel. Cheaper repairs, less parts to break, easier to find parking, possible cheaper insurance, and so on.
#22
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Even full hybrids get around only 30-40% energy efficiency overall.
There are still plenty of improvements that can be made to increase the efficiency of non-hybrid internal combustion engines to above 30%.
#24
they get better highway economy, for which larger engine is crucial... but your real life will be smaller...
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