Meet the $10K, 100 MPG Car

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f you want high mileage at a low price, the Wikispeed C3 might be your answer. C3 stands for Comfortable Commuter Car, and the Wikispeed team of volunteers did well (although they didn’t win) with the car in the X Prize contest for $10 million a few years back. The money was slated to go to the best 100-mpg car.

The car has a modular frame that allows it to go from being a car to a pickup and allows the gas engine to be swapped with an electric one.

Designer Joe Justice and a team of volunteers worked on the car, and they hope to sell a production version at a cost of $17,995 or $10,000 as a kit. Right now they're selling copies of the X Prize car for $25,000. That car promises up to 109 mpg, a 0-60 time of five seconds, and a top speed of 149 mph.

The car has a modular frame that allows it to go from being a car to a pickup and allows the gas engine to be swapped with an electric one. What the car doesn't have is a lockable trunk, cup holders, or a roof.

Wikispeed can't put the C3 into production without crash testing, so the company is selling off 10 prototypes and raising money on fund-raising site indiegogo.com in order to pay for the crash test, which is ungodly expensive. One prototype has already been sold.

We don't see the Wikispeed C3 as being more than a niche vehicle even if it enters production, but if the technology works as advertised, maybe it can influence the major manufacturers.

[Sources: Discovery, Wikispeed]