Rinspeed is best known for wild, off-the-wall creations that will never see the light of day, but the Swiss automaker could be on to something with its latest creation. Dubbed the E2 — reflecting the car’s dual purpose — the concept proves that a car can be both eco-friendly and fun to drive.
Rinspeed used the Fiat 500 Abarth SS as the basis for the concept, but essentially transformed the car into two different automobiles for the E2 concept. Turn the car’s dial to ‘Commuting’ mode and the car is dialed back to just 60 horsepower. Although that’s even less than what’s under the hood of a standard 500, it provides plenty of motivation to get the E2 around town and returns an impressive 58.8 mpg.
Once you hit the open highway in the E2, you can switch the car over to ‘Highway’ mode, which lets you access the cars full 160 horsepower. But even in Highway mode the E2 is rather frugal, returning 33.6 mpg.
Since Rinspeed’s technology never makes it any further than the show stage, it’s difficult to say if the E2 has any production value. But with the possibility to make any performance car into an eco-friendly city car, we’re sure more than a few mainstream automakers will take notice.
