An Inexpensive Car That Gets 50 MPG

“Question the unquestionable.” ~ Ratan Tata

One of my biggest complaints with the direction the U.S. auto industry has gone these past many decades is that they just don’t seem focused on one thing that really matters to a lot of people: reduced cost. Not only are the cars expensive, but they are enormously expensive to fix. Poor people can’t even afford the insurance, let alone the car payments.

The new initiatives to produce vehicles which have a lesser environmental impact (environmental cost) still don't address this consumer need. It appears to be a basic assumption that people ought to be willing to shell out more for greener vehicles, as if the two goals are mutually exclusive.

It frustrates me to hear about a proposed battery powered car that requires a $6,000 replacement battery at 60,000 miles. This is just too outrageous. Of course when the executives who make auto manufacturing decision get multi-million dollar bonuses, it’s no small wonder they are out of touch with what the average Wal-Mart employee can afford.

That is why Ratan Tata’s dream was such a breath of fresh air. If you think poor Americans have a hard time being able to afford a car, think about what poor Chinese or Indians or Egyptians can afford. So it was that Ratan Tata in 2003 declared he would build a car for the masses. For this 2008 achievement, Time magazine made Tata one the Top 100 men of the year.

Ratan Tata’s dream, a small car for the teeming millions, has been unveiled. Tata Motors wheeled out the world's cheapest car, priced at 100,000 rupees (2,500 dollars).

A two cylinder 623 cc, 33 horsepower rear mounted, all aluminum, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine can power the car to top speeds of 105 kilometres per hour (65 miles per hour).

The snub-nosed car keeps in the tradition of the Fiat 500, Nissan Micra and the Smart with 3.1 metres (10.23 feet) long, 1.5 metres wide and 1.6 metres high. Tata Nano can seat four to five people and still give you a fuel efficiency of somewhere close to 20 kilometres per litre, or 50 miles per gallon.

Tata Nano Exceeds Indian regulatory requirements on pollution and can meet strict Euro IV emission standards. In terms of overall pollutants, Tata says the car is better than two-wheelers manufactured in India currently.

Tata Nano also exceeds current regulatory requirements with a strong passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorage. Story source here

This latter requirement, that the car be safe in addition to low cost/high mpg, is the real feature, since it really is possible to improve miles per gallon by removing the car's body altogether. Not very practical. As E.F. Schumacher noted, small really can be beautiful.

According to one mechanic I recently spoke with, Detroit automakers have dug in their heels against foreign imports like the Nano and China's Chery, a $5,000 car which also gets 50 miles to the gallon. He said politics has been the barrier to inexpensive cars in America. We've been pushed by power brokers, not possibility thinkers, into the position we're in.

The cover story of this month's Wired magazine details changes that are needed in Detroit in order for the next generation of automobiles to get traction. The top down "control" mindset stifles competition and creative solutions for many of the problems automakers have made for themselves. You can read Charles C. Mann’s piece, “Beyond Detroit: On the Road to Recovery, Let the Little Guys Drive,” here.

Much more can be said, but for now there's plenty here to chew on.