Carbon fibre car bodies

Quickstep Holdings has developed Resin Spray Transfer (RST) technology, 

The new automated process allows lightweight carbon fibre parts to be produced quickly and cheaply. 

The car panels have the strength of steel, but at half the weight.  Two thirds of fuel needed to move cars is determined by car's mass. So the lighter panels save fuel, and will last longer.

Quickstep

On of the main ways of reducing fuel consumption is to reduce the mass of the vehicle.

 Researchers at the University of California Irvine have developed a material that is as strong as metal yet 100 times lighter than Styrofoam. The material is constructed from a micro-lattice of nickel phosphorous tubes that is 99.9% air. The tubes are hollow and have walls 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, yet they have the strength of metal with the added benefit of being ultra resistant to strain. Researchers believe this new material could be used to make lightweight batteries that could eventually bring down the weight of green vehicles and increase their efficiency while using less material in the process.

Read more: Scientists Develop World's Lightest Metal, 100x Lighter than Styrofoam | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World 

   New lightweight material made of nickel phosphorus nano tubes

Overall modal energy efficiencies in the global sample of cities, 1990

Source: Sustainable Transportation and Global Cities
By Peter Newman
Professor of City Policy;  Director, Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy Murdoch University Perth, Australia

International Energy Agency - Fuel Economy

It is possible to achieve a 30% to 50% reduction in fuel use per kilometre.

Download IEA report

Electric buses

While conventional diesel buses average 3.86 MPG, the Proterra Catalyst bus achieved the best efficiency rating ever for a 40’ transit bus at 22 MPGe. Nearly six times more efficient than a diesel or CNG bus…  Source