Volkswagen reveals a 261 MPG Beetle For The 22nd Century

[Renegade]

Eleven years ago, the head of Volkswagen popped out of a capsule-shaped vehicle barely able to hold two people and announced his ambition to construct the most efficient car the world has ever seen. Today, VW revealed the production version of that car known as the XL1, which it vows will travel 261 mpg on a gallon of diesel fuel. It's an amazing engineering feat, a Beetle reborn for the 22nd century — but the world may not be ready for it.


Saving energy in an automobile usually requires running a smaller engine, cutting weight and reducing aerodynamic drag to a minimum, and in the XL1, VW pushes all three steps to their modern limits. Power comes from a two-cylinder, 0.8-liter diesel — essentially half of VW's standard 1.6-liter four-cylinder diesel plant — mounted in the rear of the XL1, linked to a 7-speed transmission, a 5.5 kWh lithium-ion battery and electric motor. The two-seat body of the XL1 has a 0.189 coefficient of drag (a Toyota Prius has a 0.25 Cd) and it weighs just 1,752 lbs., about half of a typical American midsize sedan.



That combination allows the XL1 to travel 31 miles on electricity alone, and over 310 miles on a tank of fuel, for what VW claims is a mileage rating of 261 mpg (or 313 mpg by European standards) — better than any other gas, diesel or electric-powered vehicle. That's twice as efficient as the most miserly car for sale in the United States, the Scion iQ electric — which can only travel 38 miles on a full charge.

To build the XL1, Volkswagen also had to use engineering extremes usually not found outside a racetrack. The body of the XL1 will be made from carbon fiber, although using a process VW claims will be far cheaper than those applied by supercar builders such as Ferrari and Lamborghini. The XL1 will be assembled by hand in a special section of VW's Osnabrueck factory in Germany. And to ensure the safety of the passengers in case the XL1 rolls over, the scissor doors can be blasted open with explosive bolts.

But that efficiency comes with a few sacrifices, with speed first among them. Together, the electric motor and engine produce 68 hp and 103 lb-ft of torque. VW says that's enough to launch the XL1 to 62 mph in 12.7 seconds — although it suggests not doing so. Top speed is limited to 99 mph. And the two seat interior of the XL1 has to look stylish, because there's nothing behind the seats; the XL1 will offer a limited amount of space under the hood. To save weight further, only a cutout of the windows roll down, like the old Subaru SVX.

Given the combination of exotic materials, engineering costs and low-speed, hand-built production, there's no way the XL1 will make a profit for VW. It exists only due to the will of VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech — grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the designer of the original Beetle — who has pushed VW to refine the idea of the XL1 for more than a decade. For all that VW revealed today, it didn't announce prices, and that's the one bit of data that will determine whether the XL1 makes sense as anything other than a corporate science project.

[sspolo]

We will all probably be dead by the time we get to the 22nd century. Nonetheless, its impressive. Hopefully there will still be affordable sports cars by then.

[Renegade]

Originally Posted by sspolo

We will all probably be dead by the time we get to the 22nd century. Nonetheless, its impressive. Hopefully there will still be affordable sports cars by then.

Maybe you can be frozen and brought back to life then. It's a step forward to the right direction i believe. As far as sports cars if their's a high demand it will be affordable.

[CamaroSkooter]

Until it gets to crash test ratings...

[radametz]

It looks cool, but I'm kind of confused on how you see out the back...and people complain about the Camaro's blindspots!

[GretchenGotGrowl]

Originally Posted by x1sniper3x

It looks cool, but I'm kind of confused on how you see out the back...and people complain about the Camaro's blindspots!

Evidently it is so SLOOOOW no one will ever be behind you.

[Renegade]

Originally Posted by GretchenGotGrowl

Evidently it is so SLOOOOW no one will ever be behind you.

It's like the tortoise and the hare. It'll eventually pass you on the highway when you run out of gas.

[Partlow]

the mpg in the american auto industry is gimped. VW makes a passat that in Germany a buddy drove. He was getting 70+ mpg city. He wrote everything down and came back to the states to purchase the exact same car. All was well at the dealer until he told them the engine, the dealer said they couldn't do it because of the carbon footprint of it and regulations regarding carbon footprints in the U.S.

Now some may say, well yeah euro's don't care about smog but from my understanding carbon footprints(CF) are rated by how much carbon is put out per gallon, not mile(in the U.S.). Which means if you have a vehicle that get's 25mpg it'll put out less carbon because it's not going as far on a gallon.

However if you have a vehicle that gets 70+mpg then you put out a lot more carbon PER GALLON.

my .02