VW XL1 production version gallery

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by wyatt

According to Car and Driver, it's a 5-kWh Lithium Ion battery pack. Lithium Ion batteries are the ones that caught fire in the Boeing 787 and has the fleet grounded.

Originally Posted by tjts1

Lithium Ion batteries are also in your cell phone and your lap top. Aren't you afraid your cell phone might catch fire?

Originally Posted by wyatt

Your cell phone has a single battery cell. This means extremely low risk of fire.

But my laptop has an 8 cell lithium ion battery. Should I be worried its going to catch fire like a Boeing 787?

[jjackstone]

From rmay635703

This type of car although expensive is needed to get the carbon fiber systems market up and running. Realistically we don't have anybody doing true carbon fiber in low cost mass production mode. There are many startups with the claim carbon fiber will reduce the cost over steel in the future. But none with the capital to find out for real.

Not to hi-jack this thread, but I assume you all have seen this info from last year

Ford working on mass-market carbon fiber components to save weight, improve efficiency

IIRC all major manufacturers are working on something similar and while many have just survived bankruptcy they still have some pretty deep pockets.

JJ

[sendler]

Early LiCo laptop and hobby batteries were very light weight but were dangerous. The 787 early system designs were certified 5 years ago before the adoption of newer, safer battery chemistries. The new LiFePO4 cells such as the A123 Amp20 cells or the large cells from GBS or Calb are very safe for automotive use. Of course, any 3-400 volt battery capable of 1000 amps can weld metal and light carpeting and upholstery on fire if the electronics get shorted from salt water or a collision. It's not the battery on fire as much as the wiring and materials inside the car. I'm sure the battery in the Volkswagon will be one of the more modern and safer types.
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Here is a video from an Ebike builder trying to destroy an Amp20 cell including shooting a hole through it and chopping it with a hatchet.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTJ-1ZJegw

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[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.

[sendler]

I thought they said 22 miles electric.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by tjts1

But my laptop has an 8 cell lithium ion battery. Should I be worried its going to catch fire like a Boeing 787?

No, I am not worried about yours or mine catching fire. Even if it does, you will notice it getting hot and smoking before anything happens. I think the people that got burned didn't back away when their laptop started smoking.

It's probably not such a big deal on a car, where if it catches fire, you can pull off the road, stop, and get out (no matter the cause of the fire, this is why there is a firewall in a car after all...), but on an airplane, a spacecraft, a boat, or in a submarine, fire is a HUGE deal.

[NeilBlanchard]

I had heard 22 miles as well, but I think that was information from a long time ago? All the articles I have seen recently have the 31-33 miles EV range.

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Finally a sucessor for the Karmann-Ghia?

hahahaha!

Funny you should mention the Ghia;
Check out the March 2013 issue of hotVWs magazine

cover banner: 156 MPH GHIA AT BONNEVILLE!

There's a write up on the VW's at last year's World of Speed event and my 150mph club accomplishment, the only aircooled VW in the 150club to date. I drove for car owner Brit Grannis... in fact, we had the fastest VW at the meet

[NeilBlanchard]

I hope this is referring to the Up! Lite, which is lighter and much more aerodynamic than the standard Up!

VW Up hybrid to use XL1 tech | Autocar

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-us-11257.html

VW Up! Lite pictures

[jjackstone]

It always makes me laugh when people worry about batteries catching on fire in an EV or hybrid. Can it happen? Certainly. How often? Remains to be seen. Lithium and most other hi output battery technology is still in it's infancy. There are going to be mistakes made during the learning curve. However when considering the number of years gasoline powered cars have been on the road and the number of fires they have had, and the energy density available in gasoline compared to batteries(what is it 100 to 1?), I would much rather take my chances in an electric car with batteries. I have personally extinguished at least three gasoline vehicle fuel related fires(not my vehicles). In each case the fire was caused by a leaky fuel line under the hood.
Nothing is 100% safe.
JJ