How much car does it take to move one human?
The Transport Efficiency Index scores vehicles on the energy, mass, drag and power they spend per seat — not on what’s in the tank. A 2.5-tonne electric SUV can sip electricity and still waste most of what it is.
- Best
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- Median
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- Worst
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One reference car.
Four ways to need more.
Every car is compared with one fixed reference: a sensible small car, per person. Each factor says how much more (or less) car it takes per occupant. The factors are multiplied, so units don’t matter, and the result sits on a log scale: the reference scores 85, and every doubling of “car per person” costs 30 points. No stretching, no dataset-relative scaling. Select a term.
The index.
Search like a terminal: free text, or queries such as type:electric seats>=4 hp<150. Click a row for the per-seat breakdown against the dataset median.
Efficiency isn’t what a car burns. It’s how much car you move to move a person.
How much mass and road space the vehicle takes up for what it does.
How many people it can realistically carry — every cost is divided by seats.
How much performance it hauls around that daily driving never uses.
Small and simple wins, whether it’s a compact EV, a hybrid or a city petrol car.