235 mpg? 2014 VW XL1

[ecomodded]

Astonishing mpg. This car will up the game for
other manufactures to meet or beat.
I like it, even its doors.

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Hello -

1750 lbs + 74 "total" HP :

CarloSW2

Those are the specs for my Rabbit. It gets around fine with a 5spd, and with electric motors the XL1 will feel faster. Wouldn't it be cool if VW offered a factory boat tail add-on?

[ecomodded]

A video on the XL1 that inspired me to up the game with my diesel Beetle.
I have done the camera/mirror swap next the rear wheel covers then some narrow rims & skinny tires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4tMIvou-Ds

[312]

I love the car already. I wish people were smart enough to realize that NiCd batteries, changed every 100,000 miles, ARE NOT good for the environment. Sorry to the Prius and Insight owners, but your cars are no better than a diesel hummer. Now, if you were to do a biodiesel TDI-swap...

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by 312

I wish people were smart enough to realize that NiCd batteries, changed every 100,000 miles, ARE NOT good for the environment.

Can you explain this a bit please?

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

A video on the XL1 that inspired me to up the game with my diesel Beetle.

Nice find! Thank you!!

[ecomodded]

Your welcome!

Motor Trend really has a top notch crew for their videos
Very artistic.

[312]

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

Can you explain this a bit please?

Manufacture and disposal of heavy metals pollutes the earth more than a guzzler would. To even concentrate the amounts of heavy metals for the battery requires large amounts of pollution. I'm devoting my career to making batteries less detrimental to the environment. Advances in zinc-air cells should make the hybrid a good force on the environment, not a facade people are tricked into buying.

Sure, if the batteries of a hybrid at present do make it to the 150,000 lifetime safely, and are disposed of properly, the hybrid has done less damage to the environment compared to a gas car.

I just wish people would instead look at bicycles and hypermiling instead of "ford escape hybrids" BS that car manufacturers advertise.

[NachtRitter]

I'd always thought that the volume of regular lead-acid car batteries made and disposed of each year overshadowed (by far!) the number of hybrid batteries made and disposed of each year (even if you account for the fact that the hybrid batteries have more cells)... and so the *real* concern should be about all those lead acid batteries being dumped... if that were the case then most of us would be suffering from lead poisoning now... but it doesn't seem to be the case... how come? Isn't it because recycling the lead-acid batteries is so prevalent?

Certainly the likelihood of an individual changing their own lead acid battery and dumping the old one in a ditch or a landfill is much greater than an individual changing their own hybrid battery. And certainly the ability to recycle hybrid batteries is even greater (and more cost effective since the metals are more desirable for new hybrid batteries) than it is for the lead acid batteries. So why is there this fear that hybrid batteries will not be disposed of properly?

I admit I'm not familiar with the pollution associated with the manufacture of heavy metals... is that unique to the manufacture of hybrid batteries or is it specific to certain unethical manufacturers that are illegally polluting or ... ? I'd be surprised if auto manufacturers purchase products from manufacturers that are known to pollute (aside from the oil companies, of course... but even they are under a great deal of scrutiny).

[Daox]

Originally Posted by 312

I love the car already. I wish people were smart enough to realize that NiCd batteries, changed every 100,000 miles, ARE NOT good for the environment. Sorry to the Prius and Insight owners, but your cars are no better than a diesel hummer. Now, if you were to do a biodiesel TDI-swap...

Well, its a good thing that #1, hybrids don't use NiCd batteries, and #2 that you don't need to replace them every 100k miles. Really, don't bring that BS Hummer is more environmentally friendly than a Prius stuff around here, its been debunked to the moon and back.