VW XL1 production version gallery

[wdb]

Originally Posted by 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.

How nice for you and your family. I, on the other hand, would be not only willing to purchase an EV, but would also be willing to finance a high voltage charging station on my property, so that I could use it not only routinely but with relatively little inconvenience. Would that I could find one under $100,000 that will accomodate the necessities of my life (read: range between charges) without those pesky, unnecessary charging stations.

[NeilBlanchard]

They have 240V 30A Level 2 charging stations, if that is what you mean?

How far do you drive on a given day?

[Vekke]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vpc0eon6Uc

I am not understanding their calculations:

Weight 795 kg
CD 0,189
A 1,5

Somehow they say that it takes 8,4 hp to run 100 km/h speed?

Only way is that their RR is .012 which is hard to believe :/.

Aerodynamic & rolling resistance, power & MPG calculator - EcoModder.com

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Vekke

I am not understanding their calculations:

Weight 795 kg
CD 0,189
A 1,5

Somehow they say that it takes 8,4 hp to run 100 km/h speed?

Don't know, my subaru 360 which has much worse aero and weighs half as much has a 25hp motor (using the "old" method of measuring) and can drive 75mph on a good day.

Given that only about half of that (or less) makes it to the wheels I don't doubt the 8.4hp to go the 62mph listed.

[wyatt]

Yeah, the original VW 1 Liter had an 8hp engine and a top speed of something like 65mph. I would wager it had a smaller frontal area (two passengers in tandem) and it had a lower Cd, so it's hard to say. Based on that, I would have guessed that the XL1 would have required more power.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by wyatt

Yeah, the original VW 1 Liter had an 8hp engine and a top speed of something like 65mph.

Having an 8hp engine propelle a vehicle and using 8hp at the wheels out of 60 to drive a vehicle are very different things.

[wyatt]

Has anyone seen this? I am posting here for comparison purposes.
KTM Just Made the Electric Scooter Cool | Autopia | Wired.com


KTM E-SPEED
11kW (15 hp)
300 lbm
up to 50mph
4.36 kWh (40 mile range)

VW XL1
20 kW (27 hp) electric motor
60+ mph (all electric, assuming that you only need 8.3 hp to run at 60 mph)
759 kg (1675 lbm)
5 kWh (31 mile range)

Maybe KTM should offer a streamliner version that gets better range and has a higher top speed. I, for one, would only need a ~30 mile range to get to and from work, but I would feel a lot better if the top speed was closer to 65 for the interstate section .

[HypermilerAX]

Originally Posted by Vekke

I am not understanding their calculations:

Weight 795 kg
CD 0,189
A 1,5

Somehow they say that it takes 8,4 hp to run 100 km/h speed?

Only way is that their RR is .012 which is hard to believe :/.

Aerodynamic & rolling resistance, power & MPG calculator - EcoModder.com

795 kg is the empty weight. If you add 160 kg (2 people plus 10 kg fuel) you get a RR of 0.0099 which is plausible. I doubt these tires have anything special RR wise.
The Conti eContact in 125/80 R13 have been advertised like a "ultra low RR tyre for electric cars" and they turn out to be quite average if not bad.

[NachtRitter]

Updated article with some new pics: Driving Volkswagen's 261-MPG Diesel-Electric Supercar Spacepod | Autopia | Wired.com

[NachtRitter]

Anybody have a graphic that shows how the engine cooling works? From the article, it sounds like the cooling comes from underneath and exits at the top of the engine. I realize none of the graphics that I've seen so far show a radiator... (or I missed it).