VW are to unveil a 313mpg diesel hybrid at the Qatar motor show, according to the BBC. 2 seats, 2 cylinder 800cc engine, 24g/km CO2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12281238 Autoblog Green has a 2-litre engine in the same car, and gives the fuel consumption as 260 miles per [US] Gallon. Also http://green.autoblog.com/2011/01/25/volkswagen-xl1-concept-260-mpg/
For a second I thought it was like a Tron lightcycle, but I see that it's 4 wheels and more R8-ish. Pretty cool!
They keep teasing us with generation after generator of "two inline" high MPG cars. Go ahead and put some into production already!
John Briggs takes an accurate pop at the 261mpg claim here: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1054259_volkswagen-says-it-will-build-2-seat-260-mpg-plug-in-hybrid
http://www.roadandtrack.com/auto-shows/volkswagen-xl1-concept-2011-qatar-auto-show Evidently 2 cyl, not 2 liter, and side-by-side, not tandem. I heartily agree with TEG.
Hmmm. The 2nd seat seems to be offset and partially behind in an odd offset sort of way: Sortof like a McLaren F1 without the other passenger seat.
You get half your request - a teaser production run... http://green.autoblog.com/2011/01/27/volkswagen-produce-260-mpg-plug-in-xl1/# Nik
They should stop wasting their time and simply remove the ICE. It'd be soooo much simpler with only an electric drive.
Soother, faster, quicker & none of those oily bits to service and maintain. With the kind of weight saving and aerodynamics they've employed I'm sure they could do a 200+ mile range solution.
Volkswagen XL1 | Auto Express "We drive the VW XL1 - world’s most economical car - on the streets of Doha to see what it feels like to return 313mpg." Interesting comments on this one. People saying why would you want this when there are EVs! Oh yeah, the mpg and emissions claims here smell about as fishy as GM's claimed 230 did for the Volt.
Thanks for the link to the XL1 drive test! I would like very much to discuss that type of vehicle, but it would have to be in a troll-free environment.
Wow those are some skinny bicycle tires. I honestly think some of my friends mountain bikes have wider tires. I hope it keeps the rear wheel skirts, and they were just taken off for the snow driving. No point in taking them off for a production run.
250+ miles per gallon, so why get a 100K 2 person no luggage VW?? So why would I get a VW when I can have a Volt now? 250+ miles per gallon, 4 passenger, hatchback.
Volkswagen to Build World's Most Fuel-Efficient Car Design News - Captain Hybrid - Slideshow: Volkswagen to Build World's Most Fuel-Efficient Car
I saw it on the Geneva auto salon. VW didn't show any electric car. The XL1 reminds me on the GM EV 1. Same drag coefficient (0.19). But i would prefer EV 1 over the XL1.
I want to see more bigger-battery cars and battery technology improvements. not cheap "workarounds" like using plastic parts in place of metal/steel/aluminum to bring the weight of a car down resulting in a side effect of increased efficiency. you could do the same in an ICE car, really. plastic body panels and roll bars? seriously? no thanks, I wouldn't put my life in jeopardy like that if I were to get broadsided. (that being said, I also wouldn't drive or own a smart car, motorcycle, etc..you get the point). the point here is that it's nothing innovative. If Tesla could drop the weight of the Model S in half, well all of the sudden now you have a 600 mile range EV. whoop-de-do. innovate something new!!
My thoughts about the XL1: I don't understand why the VW engineers put in an electric motor and an ICE with a normal gearbox. Why they didn't use the ICE as an range extender on an generator and drive every time with the electric motor ? I think there is no advantage of the solution that they have chosen. Another point is the car looks horrible. A low drag coefficient is on side but at some point it is enough. VW said 1 L for 100km, but only at the first 100 km, because the first 50 km are full electric. The same description problem like from the Volt. After the first 100 km how high is the fuel consumption ? Nobody reported that. My last concern is, for what application should I use this car ? For city ? I think for city driving the car has a bad circumferential visivbility and for city driving you don't need a so low drag coeffcient. For long long distance drive ? Nobody would drive a long distance drive in this small car. I like EVs and I like efficent cars, but this car is not one that I want to drive.
They just play number games. The true mileage is what the car will get with the ICE on. It's likely better than the Volt, but nowhere near their made up numbers.