Rumors and Reality About Volkswagen's 258 mpg Car

If it sounds too good to be true that's because it is.

But the truth of the matter is still pretty interesting. Since 2002, VW has been working on a car called the L1. It seats 2 people and is made from carbon fiber so it's super light at just 290 kg or 638 pounds. The body is flat and narrow, and even includes a little bit of storage space.

The prototype has a single-cylinder diesel engine (though that could change), anti lock brakes, driver's airbag and an electronic stability program. It holds 6.5 liters or 1.72 gallons of gasoline and does, in fact get 258 miles per gallon with a top speed of around 74 miles per hour.

The body is made from carbon composites and it is shaped to be extremely slippery, giving it a coefficient of drag of only 0.16 ("the average car comes in around 0.30 and the Honda Insight had a Cd of 0.25"). The prototype was powered by a 1-cylinder diesel engine, but the production model should have a 2-cylinder diesel (which means it could be powered by algae-biodiesel!), and maybe even a stop-start anti-idling feature (to cut the engine when the car is stopped). - Treehugger

Volkswagen is calling it the world's most economical car but the price tag is not going to be $600. Reports say it will be more like $25,900 and that VW will be making a limited number for release in 2010.

Still, with that kind of gas mileage it is highly economical. You and a friend could drive from Boston to New York and back on less than a single tank of gas. Supposing gas is $2.85 a gallon, round trip would cost you less than $5. Or think of it this way; you would need less than 10 gallons of gas to drive from Los Angeles to New York. How your luggage would get there is anyone's guess.

The verdict: algal biofuels have the potential to displace large amounts of diesel and jet transportation fuels in the coming years -- if they can overcome key obstacles and unknowns.

Pate, who is a principal member of technical staff at Sandia, has been in Washington, D.C., since November 2009, serving as a technical consultant to the emerging algae biofuels program within the Biomass Office of the Department of Energy's Office of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EERE).The program evolved out of a 2008 initiative by the U.S. DOE toestablish a National Algae Biofuels Technology Roadmap resulting in two international collaborations: one with industrial partners in Israel and the U.S., and another with the National Research Council Canada.

Why Algae Works:

Algae is emerging as an attractive resource because it reproduces quickly, uses large quantities of carbon dioxide and can thrive in non-freshwater, including brackish and marine water, thus avoiding competition with traditional agriculture's freshwater needs.

In addition, algae can produce biomass and oils, and is attractive as feedstock for renewable fuels, with potentially greater productivity and significantly less land use requirements than with other commodity crop feedstocks such as corn, soy and canola.