[NeilBlanchard]

The XL1 is rated at 261MPG in the European test cycle. [This is a conversion of 0.9L/100km into US MPG.] And since diesel contains about 20% more energy per gallon than gasoline (E10?), if it burned gasoline that would be [~208MPG]. Still, very impressive!

I'll take the ~31 miles of all-electric range - the total battery pack size is reported to be 5kWh and assuming (never a good thing?) that they are using 90-92% of that, that means the XL1 is about 145-150Wh/mile. Which not surprisingly is a little bit better than the EV1 - and almost entirely proportional to the Cd's of each car. The EV1 in production had a Cd of ~0.20 and the Cd of the XL1 is just under 0.19.

There is at least one report that VW will be using (a front wheel drive version of) the XL1 drivetrain in the Up! This would be a lot less expensive, and much more practical, and the Up! is only 300 pounds heavier than the XL1. The Cd would be the biggest change - the Up! is probably 50% higher Cd and probably close to 100% higher CdA.