VolksWagen XL1

[Nik]

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/

 

[AnOutsider]

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!

 

[TEG]

They keep teasing us with generation after generator of "two inline" high MPG cars.
Go ahead and put some into production already!

 

[mpt]

John Briggs takes an accurate pop at the 261mpg claim here: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog...s-it-will-build-2-seat-260-mpg-plug-in-hybrid

If X-prize taught us anything, it should be that achieving 100 MPG is very difficult. So when someone claims to have a 260 MPG car, our BS detectors should go off.

 

[Bud]

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.

 

[TEG]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/auto-shows/volkswagen-xl1-concept-2011-qatar-auto-show
...and side-by-side, not tandem...

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.

 

[Nik]

They keep teasing us with generation after generator of "two inline" high MPG cars.
Go ahead and put some into production already!

You get half your request - a teaser production run...
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/01/27/volkswagen-produce-260-mpg-plug-in-xl1/#

Nik

 

[PaulM]

If X-prize taught us anything, it should be that achieving 100 MPG is very difficult. So when someone claims to have a 260 MPG car, our BS detectors should go off.

They should stop wasting their time and simply remove the ICE. It'd be soooo much simpler with only an electric drive.

 

[mpt]

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.

 

[PaulM]

Exactly!

 

[dpeilow]

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.

 

[Bud]

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.

 

[dpeilow]

Volkswagen XL1 spied

 

[ElSupreme]

Volkswagen XL1 spied

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.

 

[montgom626]

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.

 

[Doug_G]

Volkswagen to Build World's Most Fuel-Efficient Car

Design News - Captain Hybrid - Slideshow: Volkswagen to Build World's Most Fuel-Efficient Car

Volkswagen AG is planning to roll out a production car that will combine a plug-in hybrid powertrain with low weight and aerodynamic shape to reportedly achieve a startling fuel efficiency rating of 261 miles per gallon (mpg).
Although the mileage numbers will almost certainly drop when a US EPA rating is applied, the XL1, as it’s known, will likely be the most fuel efficient production car in the world. Today‘s best vehicles -- the Honda Fit EV, Scion IQ EV, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and Ford Focus Electric, among others -- typically have mpg-equivalencies that are less than half that of the proposed VW.

The key to its road-worthiness is its low weight. At 1,753 pounds, it’s less than half of the Chevy Volt’s 3,781 pounds, thanks to liberal use of lightweight materials. Approximately 20 percent of the vehicle employs carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, including the monocoque, body panels, anti-roll bars, and numerous other parts. The brakes also use carbon fiber ceramics, while the engine crankcase, steering gear housing, dampers, and other suspension components are made from aluminum. Even the XL1’s windows were designed with weight reduction in mind, all of them being made from polycarbonate.
VW’s new vehicle may also offer the lowest drag coefficient in production car history. At 0.189, it’s lower than the Toyota Prius (0.25), Tesla Model S (0.24), Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class (0.23), and General Motors’ EV1 (0.195). It accomplishes that with a tadpole-like shape that’s wider at the front than the rear.

The real test of the vehicle’s efficiency, however, may lie in its all-electric performance. Using a 5.5-kWh water-cooled, lithium-ion battery, the XL1 can travel 32 all-electric miles, meaning it gets close to six miles to the kilowatt-hour. That’s almost twice that of the Volt or Leaf.

US EPA test cycles, however, are notoriously tougher. General Motors notably proclaimed a 230-mpg efficiency for the Volt and Nissan said its Leaf would get 367 mpg in 2009, before EPA test cycles put both vehicles closer to 100 mpg-e when they were launched in 2010.

 

[Eberhard]

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.

 

[yobigd20]

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!!

 

[agentsmith1612]

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.

 

[qwk]

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.