Audi plotting a 235-mpg, "affordable" four-seat city car

Volkswagen has its XL1, the aero coupe that promises 235 miles per gallon through the use of a two-cylinder TDI diesel, an electric motor with a lithium-ion battery pack, and a seven-speed DCT. Rumored to hit showrooms next year, it will be sold in limited markets and in limited numbers. Over the corporate fence,Autocar reports that Audi is also working on a 1.0-liter car, but theirs looks to have a very different brief.

The report says that it's known as the "1.0-liter car" internally, but it won't use the same engine as Volkswagen's entry and the displacement codename might or might not describe the car's actual engine size. There will definitely be an electric component involved, however. The tiny bit that is known comes courtesy of Wolfgang Durheimer, Audi's technology chief, who says the car will utilize a version of the steel platform the A1 is based on. He tells Autocar that it will "be an 'affordable' full four-seater" and it will provide "all the creature comforts of a normal car, including climate control."

Instead of an Audi version of the XL1, this sounds like Ingolstadt's take on the BMW i3, but with better mileage. The Autocar piece says it's at least three years away from showrooms, but the Audi future product plan changes so frequently, so the timeline is hardly set in stone. The concepts, if and when they do arrive, should be very interesting, at least.



Source: Autoblog Green