Hyundai i30 Pwns Prius in Low-Emissions Race  E-mail
Friday, 21 December 2007

Hyundai is on a roll of late with its alternative energy vehicles taking home prizes. First was recent news the auto manufacturer's Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle had gotten a prefect score at a "sustainable road mobility" event in Shanghai, China. Now we find out from the Land Down Under it won Australia's most recent Panasonic World Solar Challenge race in the Greenfleet Technology Class. This challenge, though focused on solar-powered cars, also allows for other classes of participation in fuel efficient vehicles.

The Hyundai i30 was the vehicle that got the honors in the race for best fuel economy and lowest CO2 emissions. Hyundai said the 1.6 CRDi turbodiesel journeyed over 3,000km from Darwin to Adelaide last month, consuming 3.2 litres of fuel per 100km and emitting 97g of CO2 per kilometer traveled. The i30 is fitted with a 1.6-liter diesel "using a common rail injection system. The CRDi engine is fitted with a turbocharger featuring variable vane geometry for optimal air intake at any engine speed."

The i30, which is targeted toward European car drivers, beat out what many would consider very environmentally friendly cars. Hyundai seemed proud to state that "by comparison, the Leaseplan Toyota Prius consumed 5.6 litres per 100km and emitted 146g of CO2 per kilometer." The Peugeot 207 HDi consumed 3.9 litres per 100km and emitted 118g of CO2 per kilometer. Meanwhile, Team Ethanol Saab BioPower (85 percent ethanol and unleaded gas) consumed 9.3 litres per 100km and emitted 148g of CO2 per kilometer.

Comments (8)add
MPG?
written by stands2reason , December 21, 2007
Could you give us Americans some love and throw in a MPG rating? Please?

If I did my math right the Hyundai gets 69.8 MPG.
...
written by Lee , December 21, 2007
I did the same math and got a different answer. 5.6 liters = 1.48 gallons, 100 km = 62 miles, ergo 62miles/1.48 gallons = 41.9 mpg. Not bad milage, but nothing super spectacular.
Correction
written by Adam , December 21, 2007
@Lee, your math is the Prius. The Hyundai would be 3.2 liters, which is 0.85 gallons. So 62 miles / 0.85 gallons = 72.9 MPG. Which is almost twice the Prius'.
Coming to US...
written by tchamp , December 21, 2007
So, per the wiki entry for the i30, look for this vehicle coming to the US market in the first part of 2008 as a 2009 model badged as an Elantra Touring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_i30.

That's some good mileage! Almost worth the new car premium to get that kind of mileage! I just hope they actually let us yanks have the turbodiesel
Dirty diesel
written by Dennis , December 23, 2007
Newer turbo diesel engines are a lot cleaner now but still, particulates and NOx emissions are a problem. Particulates could even "offset" carbon-dioxide reductions. http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...071123.htm
Catalytic converter?
written by stands2reason , December 24, 2007
Can't they use a catalytic converter now that we've pulled sulfur from our diesel fuel? Also, I thought they had particulate filters? Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait until we get to use Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition.

http://www.me.berkeley.edu/cal/HCCI/
KPL
written by corny , December 28, 2007
Why can’t they record the mileage in kilometer per liter KPL? 31 KPL. Is this better than the Honda insight? This comes with a little less embarrassment when driving.
Hyandai i30 pwns Pruis
written by yowiee , January 28, 2008
Dear KPL, I agree it would be much much simpler, but if you take a minute to see what the numbers would have looked like for some big SUV etc, (IE the result would start with a decimal point) you quickly see it had to be litres per 100km, unfortunately'

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