An Ecological Dream Abandoned

These two vehicles, coincidentally parked in my street, reminded me of the dream of #HighEfficiencyCars that seemed to come true at the turn of the millennium. The Volkswagen Lupo 3L and the Audi A2 3L where the only two cars that ever met the legislation for vehicles with an average fuel consumption of no more than three litres per 100 kilometres (78 miles per gallon). They received the tax exemption associated to a bill that had been introduced by the progressive government of chancellor Gerhard Schr?der. These cars are driven by ultra-efficient diesel engines (61 horse powers), they are lightweight (825 and 895 kg mass) and feature very low coefficients of air resistance (0,29 and 0,25), while they seat four and, in case of the late A2 model, even five passengers. The Audi A2, which featured an #AllAluminumChassis, was a genuine representative of the so-called Golf-type vehicle class, so you wouldn't miss neither comfort or space nor speed or safety.

I never would have imagined that in the year 2018 there aren't any such "three litre vehicles" on the market any more, but, on the contrary, I imagined that today we wouldn't drive anything but high-efficiency cars. Instead, the vehicle fleets offered by most car manufacturers feature ever bigger, bulkier, more excessively powered and ecologically less friendly cars. They remind me of dinosaurs, incapable to adapt to a changing environment.

Is it just a question of legislation? What do you think?