Volkswagen XL1 in the wild - detailed photos

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

I really hope that VW can build the XL1 without the unobtanium - and sell it for a reasonable price. If it "only" gets ~100MPG on diesel, then that would still be fabulous!

My SWAG is that Kia or Hyundai could deliver an all-steel entry level variant for $16,000(US) which would do 100 mpg HWY.It would suffer a bit in town with the higher weight until traffic engineers were purged,and 7-year-olds placed in charge of traffic light synchronization.
But a consumer could option the car with hybrid tech as their budget allowed (both Kia and Hyundai offer hybrid technology).
There wouldn't be any whistles and bells unless you wanted to pay extra.And that would be the whole point.
A new strength through joy car!

[ChazInMT]

Originally Posted by aerohead

until traffic engineers were purged,and 7-year-olds placed in charge of traffic light synchronization.

Ha ha haa hah, I thought I was the only one who had this notion. I swear engineers are freaking brain dead who set up the lights in most places.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by ChazInMT

Ha ha haa hah, I thought I was the only one who had this notion. I swear engineers are freaking brain dead who set up the lights in most places.

At least they are Civil but then again most light locations aren't determined by the engineers.

What is brain dead is having insta change lights in rapid sucession on a primary road with the 2ndary road making the light change instantly to make one car go through while 40 others on the main drag wait for the one car.

Even better when the car is turning right, the light changes and the car is gone.

Ah well.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by NHB

In which way you find Tesla S as efficient as XL1?

As a vehicle with more than two seats. The XL1 works great if you only ever ride singly or two-up at most. I almost always go places three-up, and of course that isn't an option in the XL1. In terms of raw miles per kilowatt-hour it doesn't hold a candle to the XL1, but with in terms of man-miles per kilowatt-hour it becomes a much closer comparison.

I hate myself for mentioning this because it's the same rationale used by lots of Americans to justify their SUV purchases but the S, being a fairly large car, will be respected by other motorists.

I have owned and loved several very small cars, but it was never a surprise to find myself crowded or simply unnoticed by other drivers on the road here. American drivers have, over time, learned to not give much consideration to small vehicles - microcars and motorcycles get overlooked. While I would love an XL1 it isn't practical for my mission profile, and I would probably get squashed by an ignorant commuter in a Suburban.

[NeilBlanchard]

Another way the Tesla is more efficient, is that it is a "pure" electric vehicle. So, you can power it with with 100% renewable energy. The XL1 is a plugin hybrid, and you could use biodiesel, but that is more difficult.

[gone-ot]

My 2¢ summary:

On long, cross-country, trips...

XL1 does NOT invoke "range anxiety"
Tesla S does invoke "range anxiety"

YMMV!