Volkswagen Plans A Four-Door XL1

Now that the super efficient Volkswagen XL1 is in limited production, the company is prepared to tackle a new challenge by giving it two more seats and adding a pair of rear doors, reports AutoCar.

The XL1′s mission is to go 100 kilometers on 1 liter of fuel, though it’s actual gas mileage rating is 256 MPG. Naturally adding two doors and two seats will require a slightly more powerful engine and battery, as well as a completely new carbon fiber central tub. Those changes will  add about 150 kg to the current car, which tips the scales at 795 kg, or about 1,750 lbs. VW engineers hope the longer body will be somewhat more aerodynamic than the present car, allowing the new model to maintain its high MPG rating despite the increase in weight.

VW has its eye on the competition. The Toyota super-aerodynamic Mirai promises to offer outstanding fuel economy, albeit using hydrogen rather than diesel fuel, and is due to go on sale in 2015.

Rumors suggest the new 4 door car will be called the XL2, and the four seats will be staggered to keep the width of the car as narrow as possible for good aerodynamics so vital to maximum fuel economy. The rear doors are said to be hinged at the rear, as are the rear doors on the BMW i3. No word on price, but the XL1 sells for $169,000. Expect the four-passenger version to cost more than that.

Volkswagen may be facing the law of diminishing returns here. It own up! city car weighs just 926 kg and seats four, and while it only manages 52 mpg, it sells for one tenth what an XL1 costs. A person would have to drive about a million miles before the higher cost of the XL1 could be offset by fuel savings.

So what are the XL1 and XL2? Basically, rolling laboratories for Volkswagen to test out new manufacturing ideas before applying the lessons learned to its production cars. At present, the XL1 is only available in Germany and the XL2 will likely be limited to German roads as well. Look for it in about two years time.

Source: Volkswagen

VW Group Plans PHEV Onslaught

VW Group’s PHEV Filled Future

Recently, Volkswagen Group released a future mobility presentation with the cover page as seen directly below:

VW’s Future

In it we find all sorts of plug-in related details, but perhaps most interesting is VW Group’s intense future focus on PHEVs.

VW lists PHEVs as suitable for every need, or for “Unlimited Mobility,” as VW calls it.

PHEVs For Unlimited Mobility

This tells us that, moving forward, VW feels that all buyers are ready for the PHEV.  Makes sense to us, as a PHEV requires no compromise at all.

Hybrid/PHEV Powertrain Options

You’ll find some specific info for BEVs in VW’s presentation too, including battery energy density targets and even range targets for VW’s various BEVs.

VW “Future Mobility” PDF at this link.

First Volkswagen XL1 Delivered To Customer

Dr. Christian Malorny of Berlin, Germany has purchased and taken delivery of the first 261 MPG Volkswagen XL1 production car. As he picked up his keys he said, “The XL1 has inspired me from the beginning and I am very pleased to now be driving my own. With its visionary design and high-tech appearance, Volkswagen has dared something new and innovative.”

In 2002, Volkswagen created an  experimental car – the 1L- to explore how to make a passenger vehicle that would use less than 1 liter of fuel per 100 kilometers. Now Volkswagen has taken what it learned from the 1l  and subsequent projects and created the XL1, a plug-in diesel hybrid featuring an 800 cc two cylinder TDI engine and a small electric motor. It is rated at 261 mpg in the European fuel economy cycle, and in keeping with its fuel sipping nature, the car has only a 2.5 gallon fuel tank.

Years of research have gone into making the XL1 as efficient as possible. For instance, the passenger sits slightly behind the driver to minimize the width of the car for aerodynamic reasons. Weight has been kept to under 2,000 lbs by extensive use of carbon fiber for the structure and exterior of the car. 

In a world gone mad for fuel efficiency, the XL1 represents that extreme that is possible for a production car today, though it is unlikely many people will be clamoring to buy one. At a suggested price of $145,000, the owner would have to drive for decades for the fuel savings to pay for the car. Also, according to recent test drives, the XL1 has only about two-inches of suspension travel, and rides like a buckboard traversing the prairie. Handling on its skinny ultra high pressure tires is modest, and that’s being kind. Carrying capacity is limited to just over 4 cubic feet.

So what good is the XL1? It may not be practical or sensible, but it points the way forward in a world where fossil fuels will no longer be plentiful and cheap. And despite all the drawbacks, there are plenty of orders for the low-production hybrid. Give Volkswagen credit. It took  courage and vision to be an industry leader rather than a follower. No doubt they have learned valuable lessons from first imagining and then actually building the XL1. Good for them!

Is the XL1 the future of cars? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Source: Gas 2.

Volkswagen XL1 Concept - 2014

Volkswagen XL1 Concept (2014)

Volkswagen’s latest “1-liter” car

*** 1 liter of fuel needed to travel 100 kilometers (235 mpg) ***

E N G I N E

* 0.8-liter turbocharged, intercooled DOHC 8-valve diesel inline-2 (circa 47 CV)

* permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor assist (circa 27 CV)

* combined power rating circa 60 CV

T R A N S M I S S I O N

7-speed dual-clutch automatic

P E R F O R M A N C E

0 to 100 km/h: 11.8 sec

400 m (standing ¼-mile): 22.0 sec

Top speed: 160 km/h (limited)

Volkswagen XL1 Up Close in Barcelona - VIDEO

By Zachary Shahan

We’ve written a few times about the wickedly efficient (perhaps most efficient car in the world) Volkswagen XL1. I recently got to see the car over at EVS27 in Barcelona. Of course, I didn’t miss the opportunity to take a video and snap a few pics. Unfortunately, there was no option to open the doors and get a look or take a seat inside the vehicle. Nonetheless, seeing the VW XL1 in the flesh was a pretty cool experience. Here’s the video, followed by some pictures:

From a September article, here are some more stats on the XL1:

1. Price = €111,000 (or $143,000)
2. 250 being produced for sale
3. Being produced in Osnabrück, Germany
4. Is a diesel plug-in hybrid
5. 313 mpg on the combined cycle while emitting 24 g/km of CO2
6. 0 to 62 mph (o-100 km/h) in 11.9 seconds
7. Electronically limited top speed = 99 mph

We really, really, really want one of these beauty's.

Keep your eyes peeled. I’m soon going to publish an article chock full of pics from EVS27.

Source: CleanTechnica

LA 2013: Volkswagen Announces 256 MPG Diesel Hybrid

Volkswagen knocked one out of the park with its genre-defying, extreme MGP XL1 supercar- with orders exceeding the company’s XL1 production plans for the slinky exotic car, despite its six-figure price tag. Don’t think that the XL1 is done because VW doesn’t plan on building more XL1s, though. Meet the Volkswagen’s XL1 follow-up act: the 250+ MPG Volkswagen Twin Up! diesel hybrid set to debut later this month at the LA Auto Show.

The Twin Up! uses a modified version of the XL1′s 47 hp, 800 cc diesel engine and electric hybrid drivetrain to return a claimed fuel consumption of more than 256 MPG and CO2 emissions of just 27 g/km on the European cycles (if that g/km measurement didn’t give it away). That’s pretty strong, considering the 900 lb. weight penalty the Twin Up! has over the featherweight XL1.

The new Volkswagen diesel hybrid would, if sold in the US, carry the highest EPA mileage rating of any hybrid car, including Chevy’s plug-in hybrid Volt,which the EPA previously rated at “just” 93 MPG.

The Twin Up! is expected to join the all-electric e-Up! and e-Golf in Volkswagen’s bid to become the world leader in clean cars, and bringing cars like the Twin Up! and e-Golf to the US is a big part of their strategy in the coming years. The only question then will be: will it sell?

What do you think, readers? Has VW nailed it and discovered that diesel hybrids are the way to go, or has the success of the XL1 lulled them into believing it was the drivetrain and MPG estimates that sold it, and not the space-age bodywork? Let us know what you think – and remember to show your work!

Source | Photos: Volkswagen, via Auto Express UK.

Volkswagen Twin-Up: XL1-Powered Plug-In Minicar Revealed

VW has hinted for some time that the diesel-electric drivetrain from its XL1 eco-supercar would appear in something a little more humble and affordable.

Now, writes Autocar, it's revealed the result of such a concoction, in the shape of the Twin-Up.

As the name suggests, it's based on the Volkswagen Up minicar sold in Europe. The 'Twin' part of the name refers to the two power sources--diesel and plug-in electric--that have been lifted wholesale from the sleek XL1's body and dropped into the Up.

Actually, that isn't strictly true--where the XL1's engine sits behind the passengers and powers the rear wheels, the Up is more conventional. The electric and diesel components sit up front and power the front wheels, just like any other Up.

"Power" is a relative term of course. Combined system output is just 74 horsepower--one pony fewer than the most potent gasoline-fired Up--but torque is a healthier-sounding 158 pounds feet. The twin-cylinder turbocharged diesel alone is responsible for 47 horses and 88 lb-ft, the electric motor 47 bhp and 103 lb-ft. As we've come to expect though, you can't simply add those two numbers together, hence the quoted combined output.

You'd expect that to deliver peppy performance, but the reality is less enticing. 0-62 mph takes a quoted 15.7 seconds--8.8 of which are used up reaching just 37 mph--and top speed is limited to 87 mph. That actually makes it slower than the base 60 bhp gasoline Up. So what gives?

Weight--at over 2,650 lbs, it's 900 lbs heftier than the XL1 and a good 600 lbs or so more than a regular Up. Despite the efforts of a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission then, it's just not that brisk.

Economy, happily, is much better. Its 31-mile electric range influences a 214 mpgEuropean combined figure (consume with a pinch of salt) but that's more than the 50-odd miles per gallon of a conventional Up and with a twin-cylinder diesel engine, out-of-town economy is unlikely to be too thirsty.

The elephant in the room is VW's own e-Up electric car. It's quicker--little over 12 seconds to 60--and ultimately greener with no combustion engine to fuel. Sales will rely on European consumers getting over their range anxiety though--and coughing up the extra money over a regular, affordable gasoline Up.

Then there's the forbidden fruit factor--since U.S. customers won't be getting it. The Up isn't federalized for U.S. sale, which pretty much rules out special versions of it too...

Autocar reports that both plug-in Ups are expected to appear at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month.

Source: Green Car Reports

'Huge interest' in Volkswagen XL1 doesn't mean production will be increased

The Volkswagen XL1 will be expensive (roughly $145,000 US, if reports are to be believed) but that doesn't mean buyers aren't interested in the sleek, hyper-efficient machine. InAutoNews reports that more peopleare telling VW they want to buy the 261-mpg car than VW plans to make.

We asked VW's Carsten Krebs about the situation, and he said there has been no decision regarding increasing production beyond the 250 VW is panning to build. VW has no comment on how it will deal with too-high demand, but Krebs told AutoblogGreen, "We are figuring out the best process, because we have huge interest in potential XL1 buyers." As far as we can tell, the company has three options if it doesn't want to hand-make enough cars: first come, first served, offering the cars to whoever will pay the most or make it a random lottery. We wonder where the people who won't get their mitts on an XL1 will spend their money instead. Any ideas?

The diesel-electric plug-in hybrid XL1 uses less than a liter of fuel to go 100 kilometers (burning one liter would equal 235 mpg). The plans call for the limited run of 250 to be finished by the spring of 2014.


News Source: In Auto News, Volkswagen via Green Car Reports

Volkswagen XL1 Makes US Debut

Volkswagen introduced the 260+ mpg Volkswagen XL1 hybrid supercar to the American press last week at the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While we’ve covered VW’s genre-defying XL1 in the past (and even enjoyed a vicarious Volkswagen XL1 test drive), this is the car’s first time on US shores in production form. Unfortunately, it may also be the car’s last appearance on US shores – at least, in this form.

Volkswagen has just set the bar higher for sustainable transportation standards in America with the most fuel-efficient car in the world.

The Volkswagen XL1 made its American debut yesterday at the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, combining fuel efficiency and aerodynamic design to crack the 200-mile per gallon (mpg) mark.

XL1 touts itself as “the world’s most efficient car” with an estimated European combined fuel consumption rating of 261 mpg (more than 200 mpg estimated in the U.S. cycle) and up to 32 miles range as a zero-emissions vehicle in all-electric mode.

Photo via Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

Volkswagen’s Futuristic Design = Massive Efficiency

The first thing you’ll notice about the XL1 is futuristic design. With Delorean-style gull wings and covered rear wheels, it doesn’t look like many other cars on the road today, but that futuristic design hints at the car’s innovative efficiency measures.

“The XL1 offers a glimpse into Volkswagen’s present and future eco-mobility capabilities,” said Oliver Schmidt, general manager of VW’s Engineering and Environmental Office.

Photo via Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

Weighing just 1,753 pounds from carbon fiber construction with a low center of gravity and a coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.19, XL1 requires less than 0.1-kilowatt hours (kWh) of power and only emits 21 grams of CO2 to drive one kilometer.

But while efficient, the XL1 doesn’t sacrifice power or speed. The car has a top speed of 99 miles per hour (mph) and goes from 0 to 62 mph in 12.7 seconds. A truly hybrid combination of a two-cylinder diesel engine, 27-horsepower motor, and lithium-ion battery provide plug-in reliability.

Time To Say Auf Wiedersehen Already?

Unfortunately, even though the XL1 may be the world’s most efficient car, and was finally unveiled for U.S. audiences, we may not be seeing many of them on American roads any time soon.

Volkswagen has officially announced it will only build 250 XL1 cars for sale by Spring 2014, reportedly for $143,000, but likely only for European distribution and perhaps just for lease. So ultimately, the XL1’s biggest impact might not be on decarbonizing the world’s auto fleets, but by proving just how far fuel efficiency and hybrid motors can travel.

Photo via Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

Source: CleanTechnica

VW’s 260 MPG XL1 Supercar Gets More Super With Help from Ducati

Volkswagen’s 260 MPG XL1 supercar is a marvel of low weight and aerodynamic design – and the XL1 has always struck us as a new breed of supercar that used all the high-tech materials and design concepts that made Porsches, Lamborghinis and Bugattis special, and applied them to a “go far”, rather than a “go fast” product. Still, we did talk amongst ourselves. “What if it had more power?” we asked each other. It looks like Volkswagen’s CEO, Ferdinand Piech, asked himself the same thing. The result is a Volkswagen XL1 powered by a quick-revving, high-horsepower Ducati motorcycle engine.

Oh, yeah!

Despite VW’s history of building affordable cars, Piech is no stranger to building exotic machinery. The Volkswagen company was started by Piech’s grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche, and now manufactures the Audi, Porsche, Lambirghini, Bentley, and Bugatti brand vehicles, as well as the affordable Rabbit hatchback. Recently, the company acquired the storied motorcycle brand, Ducati, which builds bikes like the Panigale. If you’re unfamiliar with that bike, it looks like this …

… and, if you’re anything but an expert rider, the Panigale will absolutely impress you with its combination of prodigious torque and knife-edge steering.

With 190 HP and a screaming, 12,000 rpm redline, the upcoming XL1 Sports will be the best new car of 2014. Green or not. And make no mistake, the car is real. It was promised by Piech, personally, at a lecture at the Vienna University of Technology this week – only a decade or so after he promised to produce a 1,000 hp, 250 mph Bug.

Believe him.

Source | Photos: Bild magazine.

Volkswagen XL1 To Be Priced At $145,000

Built as one of a series of fuel-efficient concepts, the Volkswagen XL1 Concept debuted with a 261 mpg rating and little hope for going into production. But demand and interest was so great that Volkswagen was all but forced to build a limited production run of the so-called “one-liter car”, and unofficial pricing info reveals a starting MSRP of around $145,000 in Germany.

Volkswagen has reportedly already built 50 of these uber-efficient automobiles, with another 200 planned for production. Demand is said to be remarkably high for such a pricey car, especially one without any real performance credentials. This is a fuel-sipper, through and through, using a 1.0 liter turbodiesel mated to a plug-in hybrid drivetrain to achieve up to 261 mpg on the U.S. standard.

But the real key to the Volkswagen XL1’s efficiency is its lightweight and efficient body. The XL1 uses staggered seating, a carbon fiber skin over  a magnesium frame, and boasts a drag coefficient of just 0.189 by eliminating things like sideview mirrors and replacing it with video cameras. These clever advances make the XL1 a wind tunnel dream.

Furthermore, the whole package only weighs around 1,750 pounds, which allows the 47 horsepower two-cylinder diesel and 27 horsepower electric motor to easily motivate this fuel-sipper. 0 to 60 mph takes around 12-seconds, and top speed is limited to 98 mph; while not blisteringly fast, it’s certainly livable. All-electric range is limited to just 31 miles, and on diesel aline Volkswagen claims the XL1 can go 120 miles on just a gallon of fuel.

Still, at $145,000, the XL1 isn’t exactly going to save money, though this counters the assertion that Volkswagen would only lease the XL1 rather than sell it. But even though Volkswagen may lose money on each XL1 it sells, the technology and boldness of bringing such a far-out concept to life really sets VW apart from other automakers. Could the next-generation of “supercars” be super-efficient rather than super-fast?

Source: Carscoops

Volkswagen will enter E-Up!, XL1 in this month's Silvretta E-Car Rally

The distance between Volkswagen's home country of Germany and Austria's Silvretta Electric Car Rally isn't that far, so the German automaker will use the event to promote its upcoming plug-in vehicles. VW will enter both the E-Up! battery-electric and the XL1 plug-in diesel hybrid concept in the rally, which takes place later this month. In 2011, the A1 e-tron, made by VW's Audi division, won the race.

The E-Up!, which VW showed off in March at VW's Annual Press and Investors Conference, has a single-charge range of almost 100 miles and a top speed of 80 miles per hour thanks in part to an electric motor that delivers 80 horsepower. The car can be fast-charged up to 80 percent capacity in less than a half-hour and will be priced, with the battery, at 26,900 euros ($34,500 US).

The XL1 will be produced in low volumes for leases only in Europe. The car gets the equivalent of about 260 miles per gallon from its somewhat noisy, yet sleek, demeanor. We liked our test drive earlier this year. Check out VW's press release below.

Show full PR text

Source: Autoblog

2014 Volkswagen XL1: First Drive Of Wolfsburg's 261-MPG Car

Look out, owners of 200-mph testosterone-supplement poster cars. If there ever was a real hypercar, it's the Volkswagen XL1.

Although in recent years the term hypercar has been distorted—to include cars that are faster (and often even thirstier) than those supercars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, and others—we're getting back to basics: The XL1 is a hypercar in the way that might make Amory Lovins smile.

That's a nod to one of the creators of the original 1990s Hypercar project, from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). In short, the project championed fuel efficiency that was three to five times better than an ordinary passenger car, with an ultra-light structure, the extensive use of composites, and a hybrid powertrain.

We recently drove the XL1 on roads surrounding Volkswagen's Wolfsburg, Germany headquarters, and can testify that it's at once not like any other new or development car we've driven. It really is everything we'd expect of the concept, which aims to maximize efficiency without compromising usability too much. Yes, of course it's a little compromised—and frankly a little fragile-feeling—but it's emerged from Wolfsburg with a fun-to-drive element that we frankly hadn't expected.

Part vintage sports car?

Distilling it to a reference point: From behind the wheel—if you can manage to block out all the elements of futurism for the moment—it drives a lot like a vintage sports car.

There's no power assist, and this system, with its great centering, as you're so directly connected to the narrow 115/80R16 front tires (145/55R16 in back), reminds us what we're missing in bigger and heavier new vehicles. On the other hand, bumps ping through the carbon-fiber (plus some aluminum) structure, exposing the lack of noise insulation, and the structure doesn't feel rigid in the way that we've become used to in today's new cars.

When we get to the soundtrack, the vintage-sportscar comparisons do fall apart. Maybe cross it with just a bit of the aural personality of a perfectly-running Trabant. Whichever reference comes to mind—maybe a motorcycle engine running at limited revs, maybe an emergency generator—the 0.8-liter diesel twin has an unusual character in a car.

That engine—think a 1.6-liter TDI lopped in half and you really won't be far off—produces 48 horsepower; and packaged with it is a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG). Also, there's a 27-hp electric motor system sandwiched in there—fed by a 5.5-kWh lithium-ion battery. With a full charge, the XL1 can go 31 miles, while the powertrain altogether produces 68 hp and 103 lb-ft in its 'boosting mode.'

You can manually select a pure-electric mode, although that mode was unavailable in our test car, so although the XL1 would take off on very light throttle applications in electric-only mode—and at lower steady-speed cruising the diesel twin would cycle on and off a bit like an A/C compressor, it seemed—the engine would be on whenever we were accelerating significantly.

Not quick, but perky enough

Some other sources that already drove the XL1 have called this a sluggish vehicle, taking an almost agonizing time to accelerate; but it's really all about expectations. Put the shifter in Drive and the XL1 feels quite perky—at least up to about 50 mph. Above there, the diesel twin's limited useful rev range and the electric motor is a little less on its game; we reached 125 km/h (78 mph) pretty easily, but we wouldn't plan on a lot of two-lane passing. Top speed is limited to 99 mph.

The XL1's curb weight of around 1,750 pounds is one of the main talking points; another is its coefficient of drag: just 0.189—which, if you keep tabs on such things, just narrowly undercuts that of the GM EV1.

While that's quite a bit heavier than the 639-pound 1-Liter Car concept from 2002 (with that car's 0.159 coefficient of drag), the XL1 at this stage is a production-bound vehicle. The lightweight carbon-fiber resin monocoque includes a core passenger cell that weighs just 197 pounds in all. Single-shell carbon-fiber seats don't look like they'd be all that comfortable, but they seemed to offer great support. The dashboard is made of a natural fiber, with a magnesium crossmember, while side windows are polycarbonate—think Subaru SVX, but you roll them with a hand-crank.

Again for aerodynamics, the XL1 is narrower at the rear, with the rear wheels staggered inward several inches. This results in an unusual driving experience, in which you're actually hitting different portions of pavement—and bumps—with the rear wheels than with the fronts. Visibility is horrible, too, but the camera systems alongside the vehicle, with little smartphone-sized screens, do help. And also in the interest of frontal area, VW has made the cabin profile as low as possible. At 6'-6”, I felt a bit claustrophobic when turning my head for parking (and I ducked when closing the gullwing doors); I could be comfortable in this car for hours, but a colleague who's 6'-8” felt tightly wedged.

Triple-digit miles per gallon

Volkswagen claims a consumption rating equivalent to 261 mpg; but that's using the full charge of the battery. Driving the XL1 gently on some of the lower speed access roads and roundabouts around Wolfsburg, with our depleted battery, we did take note, quite carefully of consumption during a limited drive. We managed a pretty amazing 0.7 liters per 100 km, according to the trip computer, on those. Then we headed out on a stretch of divided highway—for about 15 miles in all—the trip computer had registered a trip average of 1.4 l/100km.

That's 168 mpg.

Of course this still doesn't give us a good idea what the XL1's consumption would be day in and day out. Volkswagen waves the 261-mpg figure, but also notes that it will go 310 miles in all, starting out on a charge, on its 2.6-gallon (yes, that's right) fuel tank.

They're going to make 250 production XL1s for Europe. But in the U.S., the XL1 is forbidden fruit in the truest sense; engineers openly note that the model wouldn't meet U.S. safety requirements, and that reengineering it to meet them simply isn't in sight as part of the project. It doesn't even have a passenger-side front airbag, and was granted a special EU exemption.

Where does it go from here?

And as Volkswagen has already confirmed, some of the technology from the XL1—like its dual-clutch modular hybrid powertrainconfiguration—is destined to filter down to other models.

In the longer term, there's a lot to think about in the XL1. Its rear-engine layout, rear-wheel drive, and 'simple' feel—even if it isn't—of course remind us of the original air-cooled VWs.

If VW could slash costs on materials while keeping weight under control, we daydream to think of what else could come of this hypercar. A green Karmann Ghia for the 2020s?

Source: Green Car Reports