| Ultra-Economical Citroen | ||
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(Wed 08 Oct 08) Citroen has announced that it has embarked on a new project to create an exceptionally economical new car based on the C-Cactus concept car unveiled at last year's Frankfurt Show.
The C-Cactus project involved reducing the number of components in a car (partly by giving several of them more than one function) and therefore cutting down the weight. Low weight is of course a Very Good Thing, since it means that the engine has to produce less power - and therefore consume less fuel - for the car to achieve a given level of performance, but there remains speculation as to exactly what engine would be used. Three power sources are being considered. One is a one-litre petrol engine which would give the production car a CO2 rating of under 100g/km. The second is a diesel-electric hybrid giving fuel economy in the region of 100mpg. And the third, currently on display in Paris, is a 100% electric system providing a top speed of 70mph and a range of nearly 100 miles. |
