Greenpeace's SmiLE Project proved 70mpg was possible in 1995
Filed under: Green Culture, MPG, Green Daily
High fuel efficiency is a hot topic today, but people have been tinkering with miserly vehicles for a long time. Take GreenPeace, which started working on the "SmILE-Project" in the mid '90s. GreenPeace thought that if it was going to have to be cars that we use for transportation, they may as well be "Small, Intelligent, Light und Efficient" (hence, SmILE). Unveiled in 1996, the tweaked first generation Renault Twingo got dramatically better fuel economy and, had Renault followed up and put these into production, would undoubtedly be a huge seller today.
The vehicle itself is labeled with the words "First Aid for the environment - same performance, half the fuel usage." That's not an exaggeration. Before the work, the Twingo used 6.7 liters per 100 km (35mpg U.S.) and afterwards just 3.3 (71mpg U.S.). Thanks to Slim for the tip!
[Source: Greenpeace (link is in German)]
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