Zoomi Life

The Automotive X Prize competition is heating up and the latest entrant is the new eVARO from Future Vehicle Technologies (FVT) in British Columbia.

FVT was formerly Fuel Vapor Technologies and showed off the 92mpg ale in 2006 at the SEMA Show in Vegas.  Their latest is the eVARO (electric Vehicle with Advanced Regeneration Onboard).  This latest 2-seater, 3-wheeled aircraft-inspired electric hybrid (PHEV) gets 275mpg.

Originally, Popular Mechanics had chosen the ale as one of the more promising X Prize entries, but since that vehicle’s best mileage was only 92mpg, it was not qualified (the X Prize requires 100mpg).  So FVT stepped up development on the fourth generation of the ale, which became the eVARO.

The eVARO weighs 1,250 pounds, does 0-60 in about five seconds, has a top speed of 135mph, gets 275mpg city and 165mpg highway with an all-electric range of 65-90 miles per charge before the range booster (generator with a gas motor) kicks in.

All of these numbers are verified by the University of Fraser Valley in Canada, which finished tests on the new vehicle in March.  In fact, the worst mileage they managed to get was 115mpg and their absolute best was 335mpg!

Very impressive.