[Greenbuilding] Tata reveals the world's cheapest car

[Keith Winston]

Great, a cheap 2 cylinder car. Ridiculously polluting, and now everyone 
in India can afford a car. Don't get me wrong, the line between cultural 
imperialism and environmental conscientiousness can be close sometimes. 
But it's like you took a big country with lots of cars, and then 
subsidized oil -- it would drive up emissions vastly. Oh that's right, 
that's the US.

There is a big difference between a hybrid and a 2 cylinder car. To my 
knowledge, it's impossible to build a clean-burning 2 cyl engine.

Keith


Lawrence Lile wrote:
> Here is a $2500, 50MPG car that seats five (presumably five people who
> haven't been binging on twinkies).  Environmentalists are howling, yet
> we are also lauding the Prius, which gets the same mileage and costs ten
> times as much.  I could really see using one of these as a commuter car.
>
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080110/ap_on_bi_ge/india_ultracheap_car;_yl
> t=AnwOyroENom8KMTDQoI1bYOs0NUE
>
>   
>> Tata reveals world's cheapest car
>>     
>
> By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago
>
> NEW DELHI - For millions of people in the developing world, Tata Motors'
> new $2,500 four-door subcompact - the world's cheapest car - may yield a
> transportation revolution as big as Henry Ford's Model T.
>
> The potential impact of Tata's Nano has given environmentalists
> nightmares, with visions of the tiny cars clogging India's
> already-choked roads and collectively spewing millions of tons of carbon
> dioxide into the air.
>
> Industry analysts, however, say the car may soon deliver to India and
> the rest of the developing world unprecedented mobility.
>
>
>
> The basic model, expected to roll off assembly lines later this year,
> will sell for 100,000 rupees, or about $2,500, but analysts estimate
> customers could pay 20 percent to 30 percent more to cover taxes,
> delivery and other charges.
>
>
>
> In terms of performance, it doesn't offer much more than the Model T.
> The Nano has a two-cylinder 0.6-liter gasoline engine with 33
> horsepower, giving it a top speed of about 60 mph, according to Tata. It
> gets 50 miles per gallon.
>
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