Great spy shots, 2014 VW XL1
 

The concept car that drew plenty of attention and discussion here, has been caught in the wild. Look at its delicious body and promising prototype going on its winter testing. Latest internet rumor is that it has an ambitious efficiency target, 235 MPG city/highway mix! The long gestation program should come to fruition in the next few years. Scrutinize the pics and share your observations.
2014 Volkswagen XL1 Caught Testing - First VW XL1 Production Mule Photos - RoadandTrack.com

"0-50mph in 32seconds" wont be a car for the masses though... maybe they could give us a 100mpg gas hog that people would buy

VW will probably be more pragmatic, lowering the mpg and quickening the on-ramp acceleration. Safety factors and consumers' performance expectations will make sure of that.
Some serious hyper-milers have those acceleration numbers.

That's a rumor -- I can't imagine that with both a small diesel and an electric motor, that it won't be normal. The Edison2 VLC with the 1-cylinder 250cc engine managed 0-60mph in about 15 seconds.

Also, it looks like the rear wheel track is narrowed relative to the front, but the fenders are not tapered as much in plan as they could.

Look at the skinny tires on that puppy! (Also, love the power sliding shot.)

I am disappointed that the mule has optical side view mirrors, in addition to the video mirrors. One would think that the laws could be modified to allow for video mirrors? When you are talking about a 200MPG vehicle, it seems like a important enough goal to make this effort.

With ~107hp/ton it should be much faster than 0-50mph in 32s.

Yes. My 107hp/2300lb civic does 60 in about 11 seconds.

Are those rear wheels normally skirted? They look funny sitting so far in from the bodywork.

Cynical mind...just as long it is not a heavily govn'ment subsidized project, the shareholders of this huge & conservative corporation will ONLY allow & produce a viable consumer product.

The mule body looks very good and faithful to the previous concept, similar details & gullwing'd. The wheel covers & rear wheel well covers are missing but will probably be there. Darn those jurisdictions the require regulated-size side mirrors. Great, the first real-world tests are in winter temp conditions & limited traction road testing. Carefully studying the ramifications of snow accumulation in the rear wells, since they will be aero-enclosing them. This may explain the engineering requirement to have such huge clearances around the narrower rear track. And spec the inside liners with hydrophobic materials and/or possibly utilize resultant exhaust heat.

This site puts the acceleration at a more reasonable 0 - 62 mph at 11.9s : Volkswagen XL1 Prototype Revealed by Naked Spyshots - autoevolution

Good points. I wonder how much a "halo" car is worth, though?

Creative accounting could justify a sizeable chunk of the project as marketing, another chunk as R&D for future models....

Hello -

Reminds me of a Ford Probe, 2012 style :

http://www.roadandtrack.com/var/ezfl...1-02_large.jpg

CarloSW2

Didn't see the source for the slow accel number; could be fiction, could be typo, could be a number for diesel only or electric only acceleration, but I don't think VW would accept it being slower than an old Microbus.

...I'm thinking the slow 0-50 mph was engine only, without help from the 27 hp electric motor.

Not to be sold in North America I assume ?

Beautiful car.

Any guesses on cost ?

$40,000-$50,000

Don't worry, you guys are getting the XXL1 with a front mounted V8 and slushbox that gets 1MPG.

I just had to give you a thanks for that one ! The XXL ...perfect play on the name ! ( and sadly so true )

That is way cool. Too bad the US will (undoubtedly) not let it in without that V8 and slushbox.

Mirrors are mandatory for type approval until 2013 or 2014 .

It looks even normal with the rear wheel skirts removed.

What's the white arc over the front wheels though ?
Front wheel skirts would be something ;)

1-litre car > Research and Projects > Technology > Mobility and Sustainability. > Company > Volkswagen International Homepage

volkswagen says 0-100kph in 11.9sec dunno where the person writing the roadandtrack story got their number from

...here's the VW Tech Specs literature from their website:

http://www.volkswagen.com/etc/medial...l_data_xl1.pdf

...and it lists 0-100km/h (~0-62 mph) at 11.9 seconds.

This car does and will not get 1 litre per 100 kilometers! (or 235mpg) Why? Its a 5kwh plug in hybrid in which all of the electric range is used up BEFORE the diesel engine kicks in.

I have a big issue with the plug in hybrid mpg numbers that are coming out on these new prototypes. Your battery capacity should count as a separate "electric tank reserve" so that you can't just get a bigger battery and apply that on top of your gas powered mpg. It should read 50 mile electric only range, then 180mpg diesel.

Otherwise you get ridiculous mpg numbers on an SUV, and when the plug in range range is depleted on a long highway trip, are you still gonna get 100+mpg? No, your gonna get 15mpg the rest of the way!