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When will the 1G Insight finally be bested?
When do you think a major carmaker will finally release a car that beats the first-generation Insight's mpg? What do you think that car will be?
The 2011 CR-Z won't do it. The CR-Z is sporty, and will probably end up with some needlessly large power plant. Even if it ends up Insight-sized and Insight-shaped, and with a CR-Z HF powerplant, it'll still have a steel chassis, plus the weight penalty of 10 years of extra crash regs holding it back.
The 2014 Prius will surely be impressive, but unless Toyota comes out with a very small (iQ-based?), very aerodynamic (not iQ-based) dedicated hybrid, I don't think it will be sufficient.
An Aptera 2g or 2h would qualify, but I said major carmaker. So if they sell 50,000 of them a year, that would do it. Until then, it's in the same category as the 125mpg HyperRocket motorcycle.
When the driverless car gets approved for transporting humans on the highway (2025?), a one seat, "coffin on wheels" layout becomes attractive. That could easily get 200mpg at the kind of speeds we're accustomed to today.
Are there any other cars that look promising enough to beat the Insight at its own game?
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