VW unvelis 313mpg diesel/electric hybrid

Beautiful further development of the L1 (which is slated for limited production).

Press shots here: http://www.netcarshow.com/volkswagen/2011-xl1_concept/

Of interest is the abandonment of the inline do-me seating, in favour of a more conventional layout. This thing is huge compared to the first two incarnations.

-Iain

 

Those that do not notice that the MPG are in imperial gallons using some European driving standard will certainly be shocked by its EPA numbers using US gallons. and US test cycles. I bet it is near 150 MPG by US standards.

Still impressive, but not near 313 MPG.

 

A bit more coverage:

Sexy Futuristic VW Diesel-Electric Gets 261 MPG | Autopia | Wired.com

- D

 

Don, your article is using US Gallons, so is already down to 261 MPG

 

It's been to keep the consumption below 1 L/100 km. That's been the target for the project.

-Iain

 

That's a neat idea and it sounds great, but diesel fuel is essentially just like gasoline except with greater density; packed into a smaller volume. It still comes from petroleum and results in greenhouse gases and is harmful to human health and causes cancer.

But still, I applaud them greatly for harnessing hybrid technology, which hopefully will evolve to plug-in hybrid technology, and eventually full electric.

 

I have doubts that the majority of cars will eventually go all electric. There are pilot programs here creating bio-diesel, but most of it costs more than diesel, so it is actually shipped to europe where it can get anouther tax credit. I agree with the plug-in part and as per the above wired article it is already a plug in. The problem is the cf and magnesium make this an expensive car. Its the cost side that needs help right now.

 

Still seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding, generally, regarding the effectiveness of diesel after-treatment devices, especially with respect to particulate emissions. Diesel particulate filters (DPF) have essentially eliminated particle emissions from diesel engines, except possibly during regeneration events, which occurs only a fraction of the vehicle operation time.

When a report from diesel-loathing CARB shows that particle emissions from a DPF-equipped vehicle they tested were virtually indistinguishable from background (filtered dilution tunnel air) based on the results of multiple particle counting systems, it's hard to argue it's just hype.

This vehicle is being designed to meet Euro 6, which is actually more restrictive in terms of particle emissions than the current U.S. regulations (and even the proposed CARB LEV III regs).

I agree that biodiesel or renewable diesel could reduce the advertised 24 g/km CO2 emissions of this vehicle even further and possibly be even carbon neutral.

 

dont forget bio petrol.. its alwasy diesel this and deisel that

and still we have cancer imiting ECI's.... so thats not a sollution

 

Wow - what a design...I like it!
I'd be happy to have that on my driveway even if it is only a 2 seater and has no rear window/visibility...pity it'll probably never enter mass production exactly like that.

The front reminds me of the latest VW Scirocco that we have over here in Europe.

 

Hey! That VW 313mpg is WAY more than Volt's 230mpg.

 

I love it. I love the fact that they are showing off just how little fuel we all could use and still have viable and effective private transport. It's brilliant!

I wouldn't stress too much over the petrol versus diesel aspect here. It's largely an experimental car and they're shooting for those amazing headline figures like 1L/100k or better. So obviously that's just going to be a little easier to achieve with diesel and its higher energy density. I'm sure that's part of the reason they've gone for diesel. Also I'm pretty sure that most of the technology would translate directly to a petrol model if they ever wanted to go that route.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Peoples attitudes can change like the wind as gas prices change. You could have someone totally bagging hybrids and EV's today, saying stuff like how much they hate them and would never own one etc, but then if gas went to $10/gallon tomorrow they'd change in a millisecond.

 

I wasn't forgetting, I was explaining. You need to remember that this is a European automaker, and europes regulations are all surrounding co2 and not other pollutants. They tax diesel less and this reflects a relative subsidy. The 1.6L TDI is one of vw's most effiecient engine, and they just cut it in half to make this car, it makes perfect sense. Given the 35km electric range, I would expect most to put less than 200L or less than 50 gallons in this thing a year, reducing all pollutants a great deal.

Because of the us rules on subsidies we are much closer to bio diesel to scale than bio petrol. You can complain to the us and eu policy makers about this. On the petol or gasoline side of things, e85 seems to be the end point for flex fuel vehicles. As a design study diesel makes much more sense as you will get much higher mpg or lower l/km because diesel has more energy than e85.

This is design progress, don't get hung up that it is European and therefore diesel. We have the comercial tesla as a technological showcase for bev.

exactly on most of that. I do not think this would make it in the us. US safety regulations would add more weight. Something similar could work, but I would guess we need more weight and power for a us vehicle.

 

there are caars running on puur ethanol so thats not a problem
i hope poeple start to think about air pollution instead of just co2

 

Just imagine if there was a diesel version of the Volt.

 

'Cause it would require Premium Diesel? LOL

 

LOL! Good one

(for clarification on the previous replies to my initial post, I'm fine with never fully eliminating a hydrocarbon fuel source, as long as the plug-in electricity (and regen braking) is the primary energy source of the vehicle. I think Plug-in hybrids will emerge to be the most popular vehicle of the future (although I'm sure full electrics will do very well also).

 

How about a gull winged Prius?