Given the fact that the EPA ratings are much higher than real world, I wonder how bogus the European ratings are. What's the difference? 40 mpg seems pretty disappointing to me. But then, I drive a Prius.

Wow. Zap gets Zapped. The Honda Fit is gonna kill this thing.

Why would anyone pay close to 20k for a car smaller then a Prius with WORSE mpg?

I wish zap success but they have been toying with stockholders for years and not putting out anything really worthwhile.

Thanks for mentioning the VW Beetle. My biodiesel beetle consistently gets 45-54mpg, has far fewer parts to break the a hyrid, and has better exhaust emissions than a petrol hybrid.

"and has better exhaust emissions than a petrol hybrid."

I doubt that.

40mpg combined...BEST mileage non hybrid gasoline powered vehicle, in the country... That's just pathetic. Honda was easily besting these numbers back in 1980's. What happened? Why aren't there any vehicles with better mileage? It's not because of a lack of technology or know-how, that's for sure. I just put a set of shocks on my CRX HF, after 206K miles, and I'll probably still be driving it after another 15 years because there aren't any vehicles with significantly better mileage out there... That is without dropping $20K on something hybrid.

I don't see how this Smart will compete with the new msub sub compacts; or even the Insight and Prius.
You can get an Insight for the same price, and significantly better milage and a better 0-60, and higher top speed (more cargo room in the Insight too if I'm not mistaken).

As for why MPG figures haven't gotten significantly better since the 80s it's largly due to more strict emissions which lower MPG; chassis getting heavier for saftey concerns (only car as light as the CRX now is the Insight... and it's all aluminum) And "feature creep" companies keep adding standard features which add weight.

As for "significantly better" milage than the CRX HF, yes the Insight does get significantly better MPG, but then, the Insight does look suspcisiously like a more aerodynamic CRX :)

One of the reasons for more horsepower is that cars need it to counteract the affect of added weight.

Ignition timing on a diesel?

Biodiesel or not, there is no way that a current US spec TDI beats Bin 2 Tier 2 emissions (what a Honda Civic Hybrid meets)

Correct, gasoline engines are much cleaner by EPA metrics since EPA moved much earlier and more aggressively with gas than with diesel. It's high time they moved on to diesel. But as useful as the EPA ratings are, it helps to think a little more broadly.

EPA consumption numbers are generated on a test bed with simulated driving patterns. They are precise, repeatable, and as a measure of real-world mileage notably inaccurate, with the level of inaccuracy depending somewhat on drivetrain (gasoline, gasoline-electric, diesel).

For a given car, EPA only looks at direct emissions, and does not include other consequences of using that fuel, such as fugitive emissions at refining, distribution, fill-time, etc. This is as it should be, but we as consumers should use their ratings as one piece of the story -- it's an important one, but not the whole thing.

EPA comes down hard on NOx, as they should, but here's something interesting: diesels contribute less to ozone than gasoline engines in urban centers (where hybrids are more efficient); outside of urban regions (where diesels are more efficient), gasoline engines contribute less to ozone.

There are notable omissions in the EPA ratings. One of them (polyaromatic hydrocarbons) is on the table for regulation. Catalytic converters are quite good (once they've reached operating temperature, anyway), so the big problem here for new cars is fugitive emissions. Neither gasoline nor diesel is good in this respect, but gasoline has much higher vapor pressure.

Another omission is secondary organic aerosol. Not enough is known about precursors, formation pathways, etc for EPA to move on it yet. For new cars, gas or diesel, the big problem will be fugitive emissions. And again, gasoline has much higher vapor pressure than diesel, which in turn has higher vapor pressure than biodiesel.

Finally, the elephant in the room that EPA makes a point of avoiding: CO2. It doesn't show up on EPA's ratings because EPA is not allowed to regulate it (not that they don't want to). Here Randy's biodiesel beetle has it all over Anonymous' HCH.

I don't mean to imply that EPA ratings are not useful, far from it. But they are just one part of the picture. Both gasoline-electric hybrids and biodiesel are good starts, with the tradeoff being air quality vs climate. Makes you wish PNGV hadn't gotten axed ....

Back on topic: I suppose it's a good thing that ZAP is providing another option in the high-mileage sector, and I hope they succeed. But personally I'd go for an Insight, a Prius, or a TDI.

Someone mentioned a CRX earlier...the last time I rode in one of those I had to move the seat all the way back and lay it down far below what I would have set the seat at for driving. Otherwise my head was being crushed by the roof...and I didn't see any places for my kids to sit so an old CRX, regardless of gas mileage (ever compare your emissions data on that old thing??? Go get a test and post up the results), is definitely NOT an option.

This Smart vehicle would not be an option for me either given that I drive my kids to daycare every other day. Sad thing is I work 1 mile from my home but drive 20 miles one way to the daycare...otherwise daycare would be twice as expensive as my mortgage!!! This is why people drive so much...I work with people who brave an hour commute (20-25 miles) every day because it is too expensive to live near your place of work in this country.

CO2 is directly tied to MPG.

Not if you're comparing fossil to renewable.

----In city driving, my HCH2 gets 55+ mpg. From my experience TDI's get mid to high 30's. CO2 is directly tied to MPG.----

I am about to buy a VW TDI (TDI means diesel) and from everything I have read, they can get 50-55 mpg, especially the 2003 with manual transmission. With tons of power and a sunroof!!! I love my 2003 prius, but I gotta move on. I need some power and most of all, I need a sunroof. A TDI driver recently told me that he finds himself going 90 or 100 mph in his 1999 TDI jetta without realizing it. I would realize it in my prius, bigtime, if it could even go that fast.

As far as polution, as I understand it diesels excel in low greenhouse gasses but do not do so good on smog.