The Hyper "Mile" Car

The future of the internal combustion engine is shaky at best these days. Let's face it, the way things are shaping up within the next 30 years we are going to hit a tipping point, where something major is going to happen. We are not going to be using fossil fuel as the main source of propulsion anymore. This is a sad reality that I for one am having a difficult time wrapping my head around. I have covered what I think may happen in the future in an earlier post http://thedrivetrain.blogspot.ca/2013/07/whats-next.html.

This post is about a shift in the way automotive enthusiast's think. Electric cars and cars powered by alternative fuels are becoming more popular by the day. This can be attributed to any one of many things. Why they are becoming more popular is of no consequence to this post - today, I will be writing about what I think may be the future of automotive passion.

I am sensing a shift in the priority's of the automotive market place. People are realizing that they need a more efficient vehicle and car company's are realizing that people will pay for them. Take the loathed Toyota Prius for example, that car starts off at almost 30 thousand dollars and fully optioned out it will be near 50 thousand. That is not a cheap car, and to further illustrate my point I give you the Mitsubishi I-miev.

http://thestar.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341bf8f353ef014e88f821ab970d-popup

That stupid little car cost's 35 thousand dollars. I have been inside it, everything is recycled plastic and all the nobs and dials make a very irritating clicking noise. yes it is Eco friendly and fuel efficient but my girlfriends former Pontiac Sunfire had better build quality and was arguably faster.

In the next twenty to thirty years I am predicting that hyper cars such as the Lamborghini Aventador and Ferarri 458 Italia will be all but extinct because as fossil feul gets less prevalent and more expensive, vehicles that have astronomical mileage numbers will become the most sought after commodity, and people will need to pay ludicrous sums of money to own one.

In fact it is already starting and the company that is leading the charge as always is the Volkswagen Auto Group.

www.themotorreport.com.au/56007/volkswagen-xl1-plug-in-hybrid-makes-production-debut

The Volkswagen XL1 was released as a concept a few years ago, and it recently was announced as a production model. This car is rather impressive but not for it's performance numbers.

http://autochunk.com/7413/2013/02/22/261mph-vw-xl1-the-most-fuel-efficient-car-coming-to-geneva/

At a paltry 12.7 second 0-60, the XL1 won't exactly set your pant's on fire, that mileage number on the other hand is what you are going to pay for. 261 miles per gallon or if you're in Canada 0.9L/100km. That will essentially let you travel across the continent on one tank of fuel. However to bring the conversation back to where it was going. This car will cost 145 thousand dollars give or take, and they are only making 250 of them. I feel that this is the way the automotive industry is leaning.

The focus in the future will be less on high performance figures and more on high mileage figures and you will pay for it. I feel that hyper mile cars like the XL1 will take the place of hyper performance cars. I am not saying that high performance cars will vanish, in fact I think they will stay around but the prices will get higher and higher. Within the last 3 years we have had allot of cars debut (at least 4) that cost over a million dollars. I feel that is what will happen to sports cars, they will simply be unattainable for the general population and quite possibly may be outlawed within city limit's (so get one now). The hyper mile car will become the new 100 thousand dollar plus "sports car" that people lust after and cars like the Mustang and Scion FR-S will become things of the past.

I am not looking forward to this future. I am a car guy and a performance junkie. However 261 miles per gallon is definitely something to brag about and that is really what expensive cars are all about. Bragging rights.