VolksWagen XL1

[Reykjavik]

I wouldn't have a problem driving it, if it were a reasonable price. But even if it does what they claim it does, it pales in comparison to the other, cheaper options. I don't see a single significant way that this thing is superior to the model S. If it gets the mileage they claim, it may have a slight edge from an environmental standpoint, but in the long term, it won't, because the grid will switch to sustainable energy sources. It doesn't win on price, for that much you could buy a model S and keep it charged until the wheels fall off. It doesn't win on practicality. It doesn't win on performance. And I suspect that it won't win on safety either.I just don't see why a journalist would write either of those stories. The headline should read "VW shows they have either no interest in practical, environmentally friendly vehicles, or they are incapable of producing one". Or maybe "an astoundingly impractical vehicle from VW gets incredible gas mileage".If they manage to innovate in battery tech, or even in ICE efficiency on this thing, that is great. If they manage to break through the regulatory issues around things like the side view cameras, that is great. But that doesn't make the car the future, maybe a few bits of it play a noteworthy role in the future of cars. But for the whole car to really be representative of the future, the future would have to suck.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

BBC Autos seems particularly guilty of practically ignoring the existence of the Model S. The good folks there seem more inclined to writing puff pieces about any old underwhelming EV out of Germania; the attitude towards EVs overall is somewhere between patronizing and condescending. NYTimes - maybe, given the history with Tesla - is a mixed bag too.