New 2009 VW 1 liter concept car

[solarguy]

Let's see, if a bunch of the ecomodders buy one, and bunch of the people where it gets cold buy one, because EV's don't perform as well in cold climates, and a bunch of the people in rural areas that drive more than 100 miles a day buy one, and if they make it biodiesel compatible, all those crazy biodiesel people buy one, and a few of the motorcycle people are intrigued enough to buy one, and a few of the people who really don't need an SUV wake up and get a brain buy one, and pretty soon you're talking real numbers.

It could happen.

I don't know if I have any prior art laying around, but I had the idea of glider = hypermiler with small diesel engine before the one liter project ever hit the news. They stole it from me.

Or, many people arrived at the logical and unavoidable conclusion of very small frontal areas and very low drag coefficients, all at the same time.

Mine will be unique (I think...) in that it seats 3 in "tandem", which helps with internal volume and luggage when you are solo.

Finest regards,

troy

[MadisonMPG]

haha @ the 170MPG "foolish" statement.

[botsapper]

The latest design just tickled my fancy. But I also wanted to add a retro flourish to its rear view. The famous Alfa Romeo BAT 7 is probably the sexiest aero design study. I just wanted share & show the BAT's aero theories on the latest VW aero offering.

[tasdrouille]

Originally Posted by tjts1

What makes you think anyone would want to buy this?

MB sold almost 25 000 36 mpg Smart cars last year. Isn't the L1 also a two seater with a boot big enough for two grocery bags?

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

MB sold almost 25 000 36 mpg Smart cars last year. Isn't the L1 also a two seater with a boot big enough for two grocery bags?

The smart has never turned a profit in 11 years of production. The smart has a completely different configuration with a higher seating position, a rear window and a real trunk. Good luck selling a car where you can't even adjust the seat back or have a conversation with your passenger.

If you're looking for an inovative configuration, check out Gordon Murray's (same guy that brought us the McLaren F1) T25.






The 1L is an exercise in aerodynamics and headline grabbing numbers. It will never see the light of day as a real production car.

[pgfpro]

That's a cool idea on the seating. Very simple and practical.

Is it a EV car?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by tjts1

The smart has never turned a profit in 11 years of production. The smart has a completely different configuration with a higher seating position, a rear window and a real trunk. Good luck selling a car where you can't even adjust the seat back or have a conversation with your passenger.

The 1L is an exercise in aerodynamics and headline grabbing numbers. It will never see the light of day as a real production car.

Sadly I agree with you on #2 but not for the reasons you state. They have had some form of this car in the news how many times now? Since what 01?

As to #1 I disagree, neither of my main cars have movable seats and have no "Real" trunk either what ever that is, yet I still bought them, go figure there are a few of us out there.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I found some more details on the VW 1L over at TreeHugger.com:

Most Fuel Efficient Diesel-Hybrid in the World: VW Shows New Version of 1-Liter Concept Car (170 MPG) : TreeHugger

The Cd is 0.195 (vs 0.16 for the previous generation), and the weight is 380kg (vs 300kg of the previous generation). The drivetrain is 122kg (must include the batteries and the diesel and the electric motors). The batteries and the electric motor are in the front, so the electric drives the front wheels and this also lets it do regenerative braking.

There are new pictures, too:

[gone-ot]

...looks like the passenger gets a major "wedgie" from the front seatback during sudden stops (planned and otherwise).

[Frank Lee]

I've never seen tjts so perky!