VW XL1 production version gallery

[wyatt]

Does anybody know what it's FE would be without taking the plug-in into account? Something around 90mpg?

[sendler]

Good question. I assumed the 1 liter / 100km was fuel only but I suppose they could be cheating the numbers as they do for the Volt which can claim any FUEL ECONOMY number you want to choose depending on how far you drive after the battery runs down. The Volt only gets 36 mpg on gas but it is popular for news papers to print that it gets 200 mpgUS.

[wyatt]

That's what I was thinking. The original VW 1 Liter car sported an 8 HP single cylinder diesel, a much more narrow track, a Cd around 0.15, I assume it weighed a lot less, and it was getting the same 0.9L/100km number. Now, it wasn't a hybrid, but from what I have seen a hybrid system might be good for 25% better FE, which shouldn't allow the mass, frontal area, Cd, and HP to all go up that much while maintaing the same MPG figures.
For the record, I don't think the original 1 Liter would have benefited much (if any) from a hybrid system, since it's engine shut down upon letting off the gas and it had a flywheel that spun for up to 5 minutes to very quickly re-start the engine when the accelerator was pushed down again. A plug in system, however...

[Smurf]

I, for one, am in lust with this vehicle. Every single thing I see about it, I like. It's the future, tomorrow.

And those automatic side vents on the prototype/concept are very similar to a design of mine, using 2" popper actuators to pull the trailing end of a ~2' long duct in and allow more air to the rear motorcycle assembly.

[wdb]

"1 liter/100km" is a visionary objective VW used as their goal when designing the car. I wouldn't knock them for using hybrid technology to achieve it. This isn't an all-electric vehicle that requires an entirely new infrastructure to be practical; it's practical right now.

[NeilBlanchard]

I don't understand why it "would take a whole new infrastructure" to do EV's? We have an electric grid that delivers power to almost everywhere.

The XL1 is a plugin hybrid - it can hold about 60¢ of electricity and about $11 worth of diesel.

[pete c]

I think what he means by new infrastructure is quick charging stations away from home.

[NeilBlanchard]

Yeah, we don't need those. About 99% of all charging happens at home and most of that is overnight. My family owns 3 EV's and over the past year, I don't think that any of them have been charged on a public charging station.

[wyatt]

If you want to use it for just around town, that's great. But if you wanted to use it for a road trip, overnight charging would make that trip unrealistic.

[botsapper]

Up close, driving video. 2014 Volkswagen XL1 [w/video] First Drive