Fazda
Honorary Master
By Les Stephenson
It's not politically correct to admit that a small turbodiesel engine in a small car is the world's best hope for cutting air pollution but there's no gainsaying Seat's Ibiza Ecomotive and its latest fuel-consumption feat.
Battery packs are the ultimate polluter once they have died, hydrogen uses vast amounts of electricity in its production and electric cars just move the pollutiion from the road to the power station.
The answer is to use less fuel and Austrian Gerhard Plattner, a well-known champion of fuel-saving tests, did just that with an Ecomotive recently - 1562km on a one tank of fuel with an average consumption figure of 2
The answer is to use less fuel... as Gerhard Plattner did recently.9 litres/100 km.
Plattner drove out of the Martorell facilities near Barcelona in Spain in the Ibiza on April 27 after the bonnet and the fuel-filler had been sealed under the supervision by the International Police Motor Corporation.
The route was initially planned along a 1345km route from south to north on motorways at a suitable pace.
Plattner drove the Ibiza Ecomotive through Perpignan, Avignon, Lyon, Mulhouse, Freiburg, Frankfurt and finally Göttingen on his way to setting the record. At some points along the way on motorways in Spain and France, Plattner brought the Ibiza up to cruising speeds of 110 km/h.
The car had already set a world fuel-saving record when it reached Frankfurt but there was still fuel in its tank so Plattner continued driving until he reached Göttingen
The record was beaten but there was still diesel in the tank, so....
There the chairman of the IPMC removed the seal from the filler cap and refilled the tank with 45.53 litres.
A smiling Plattner said: "Setting this record has been incredible. Without a doubt, it has been the most spectacular fuel-saving challenge this year.
"Pouring rain practically all through the night made driving difficult but the Ibiza performed to perfection."
The Seat Ibiza Ecomotive claims to be the leading car in its segment in terms of sustainability and the Spanish brand’s most ecological car, thanks to its low listed fuel consumption figure of only 3.7 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of only 98g/km.
AIRCON AND FIVE SEATS
The automaker lists optimised streamlining, weight reduction and modifications to the 60kW, 1.4 TDI engine's management system as helping to create "one of the cleanest cars on the market".
It comes with aircon and seats five - but is not available in South Africa because the brand pulled out of South Africa some time ago after a brief sojourn under the VW banner.
Pity.
It's not politically correct to admit that a small turbodiesel engine in a small car is the world's best hope for cutting air pollution but there's no gainsaying Seat's Ibiza Ecomotive and its latest fuel-consumption feat.
Battery packs are the ultimate polluter once they have died, hydrogen uses vast amounts of electricity in its production and electric cars just move the pollutiion from the road to the power station.
The answer is to use less fuel and Austrian Gerhard Plattner, a well-known champion of fuel-saving tests, did just that with an Ecomotive recently - 1562km on a one tank of fuel with an average consumption figure of 2
The answer is to use less fuel... as Gerhard Plattner did recently.9 litres/100 km.
Plattner drove out of the Martorell facilities near Barcelona in Spain in the Ibiza on April 27 after the bonnet and the fuel-filler had been sealed under the supervision by the International Police Motor Corporation.
The route was initially planned along a 1345km route from south to north on motorways at a suitable pace.
Plattner drove the Ibiza Ecomotive through Perpignan, Avignon, Lyon, Mulhouse, Freiburg, Frankfurt and finally Göttingen on his way to setting the record. At some points along the way on motorways in Spain and France, Plattner brought the Ibiza up to cruising speeds of 110 km/h.
The car had already set a world fuel-saving record when it reached Frankfurt but there was still fuel in its tank so Plattner continued driving until he reached Göttingen
The record was beaten but there was still diesel in the tank, so....
There the chairman of the IPMC removed the seal from the filler cap and refilled the tank with 45.53 litres.
A smiling Plattner said: "Setting this record has been incredible. Without a doubt, it has been the most spectacular fuel-saving challenge this year.
"Pouring rain practically all through the night made driving difficult but the Ibiza performed to perfection."
The Seat Ibiza Ecomotive claims to be the leading car in its segment in terms of sustainability and the Spanish brand’s most ecological car, thanks to its low listed fuel consumption figure of only 3.7 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of only 98g/km.
AIRCON AND FIVE SEATS
The automaker lists optimised streamlining, weight reduction and modifications to the 60kW, 1.4 TDI engine's management system as helping to create "one of the cleanest cars on the market".
It comes with aircon and seats five - but is not available in South Africa because the brand pulled out of South Africa some time ago after a brief sojourn under the VW banner.
Pity.