By Alex Nunez on January 26, 2011 in
Think the Toyota Prius is a fuel miser? Volkswagen's new super-efficient concept car makes it look like a Ford Excursion. The sleek, ultra light, gull-winged, two-seat plug-in hybrid Volkswagen XL1 prototype is good for -- not making this up -- 0.9 liters per 100 km in fuel consumption. Since metric figures mean about as much to American readers as me writing in Klingon, I'll put it in more familiar terms: 261.3 mpg. Got your attention now? The best part is that Volkswagen is dead serious about eventually delivering a production "one liter car" (a car that consumes 1 liter of fuel or less per 100 kilometers). The XL1 is a big step toward that reality. Here's how it puts up those gaudy figures..
- It's really light. The VW XL1 weighs 795 kilos, or around 1,752 pounds. For the sake of comparison, the lightest Honda Fit you can buy weighs 737 pounds more. The XL1's monocoque is made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), whose strength (it's super rigid -- Formula 1 cars are built using the same method) is matched only by its lightness. In addition to CFRP and other polymers, Volkswagen uses lightweight metals and other materials wherever possible. According to VW, only 23.2 percent of the car's overall weight comes from steel and/or iron.
- Plug-in diesel-electric hybrid. The Xl1's drivetrain consists of a rear-mounted, 47-horsepower, 800cc two-cylinder turbodiesel, a seven-speed DSG transmission,a 20-kilowatt (27 horsepower) electric motor, and a lithium ion battery. On a full charge, the XL1's battery supplies enough power to drive on the electric motor alone for up to 35 kilometers (around 22 miles). Like other hybrids, brake regeneration is used to reclaim kinetic energy and store it in the battery.
- Compact and very aerodynamic. Volkswagen says that dimensionally, the XL1 is roughly as long and wide as the compact VW Polo sold in Europe and other markets, but has the height of a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. In lieu of mirrors, rearview cameras are employed. The rear wheels are completely hidden by spats, and the front air intake has electronically-controlled louvers. These features all contribute to total drag that's more than two times lower than that of a VW Golf.
You might think that a car with a combined 74 horsepower from its gas engine and electric motor would come up short on performance, but the XL1 is capable of making the run from zero to 62 miles per hour in just under 12 seconds. Top speed is 160 km/h (just about 100 mph). Both are entirely reasonable figures, especially when you consider that the car is capable of getting 260 mpg.
It's an exciting concept, and Volkswagen makes it clear that it has reached a point where production costs would not be prohibitive. We may be only a few years away from seeing a production version of the "one liter car" concept, and if that's the case, we may need to redefine our notion of what a supercar is.
For a better look at the exterior styling and design features, we've posted some b-roll video (there's no audio) of the Volkswagen XL1 below. In a rather obvious tweak to the oil-rich Persian Gulf region, VW unveiled the XL1 at the Qatar Motor Show this week. For more photos, check out the gallery at Autoblog, where you can see the interior as well.
UPDATE: The Truth About Cars reports that Volkswagen will, in fact, build a (very) limited run of XL1s -- 100 cars. No pricing has been announced yet. Germany will get it first, followed by the United States and China.
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