Volkswagen {link} have scored an impressive environmental victory over Toyota and the Prius. Seen as THE green car the Toyota Prius has just been beaten to the title of most environmental car by the Volkswagen Passat 1.4TSI EcoFuel. The Passat outperformed the Prius on economy and emissions in the ADAC’s Eco Test 2009 making it the leanest and most environmentally friendly car available in Germany.With over 900 cars tested the result really is significant as is the fact that the winning car is not an electro-hybrid. In fact the EcoFuel concept could shake the electro-hybrid concept to its very core.
By using both a supercharger and turbocharger (as seen on petrol TSI engines) Volkswagen have been able to produce an exceptionally clean engine that runs on natural gas but offers petrol performance. The VW Passat EcoFuel offers a 0-62 time of just under 10 seconds with a top speed of around 130mph. Using gas alone it has a range of over 270 miles which can be extended to a total of around 550 miles by using petrol.
Volkswagen have proved the EcoFuel concept is environmentally excellent and are expected to introduce it into their smaller (and lighter) models quickly. An EcoFuel Jetta should offer even better driving and environmental performance than the larger Passat, the Prius’ time appears to be passing and passing quickly.
