Does your Prius Impress you with its hybrid mpg? How does 300mpg Strike You?
Hear the word super car and you are probably to be put in mind of something that sounds like German or Italian – all fast and liquid metal-styled. What you aren’t likely to do is to think of a badge like VW. What if the term ” super car” could be implemented to whatever car that was super one way another – say in the way it was super, frugal and fuel-efficient? Time was, that when you thought of fuel efficiency in a car, the Prius and its 70mpg seemed possibly advanced. Is that the best that hybrid mpg can go? What will a super fuel-efficient car be able to achieve one day? The fact is, that car might already be here. It may not be a fast car; it’s puny engine of 800cc might look like it belongs in a Smart car instead of any car that would wish to call itself ” super.” However, practical it is: it’s the new VW XL1 super frugal car of the future – the hybrid that does 313 mpg.
Now, this is not among that crazy ultra- mileage contraptions where you have to go about with no air-conditioning, no stereo and no seats (for a low kerb weight). It’s a beautifully-constructed VW concept car that gives you every luxury that you have come to expect of a modern production car. VW has been working on its ultra-mileage concepts for approximately 30 years now. About the year 2000, they came out with a car known as the Lupo whose hybrid mpg was 94. As if that was not enough, the company’s design team at that time started work on what was to be their greatest accomplishment – the 280mpg hybrid concept. The design team took the idea and ran with it. The result is what they have come up with today – the 313mpg XL1 concept – a plug-in hybrid with a very small engine and very big fuel savings. When driven at an average 45mpg, the car, in reality, does about 300mpg.
The car of course, is just a hybrid mpg concept at this time. It may be rather noisy. It may be uncomfortable to drive, but the feeling that every drop of fuel actually propels you forward about half a mile can be exhilarating.The latest version of the concept is powered by a 1.6 liter diesel engine that powers the rear wheels and a 27bhp electric motor supplied by a quite small 5KWh plug-in lithium-ion battery). The car remains all electric up until you reach about 60 mph. Once you try to go any faster than that, the diesel engine sets in and takes over. The battery itself is enough juice to take the car a full 220 miles all by itself ( and a full charge takes about a few hours). Coupled with a diesel engine, the car, fully juiced up, can go approximately 300 miles.
The shape of hybrid mpg car is pretty delightful – kind of reminiscent of the DeLorean’s take on what makes for a futuristic design.
Inside, the car has plenty of space for two full-sized adults and little else. Everywhere, you look in the car, space age lightweight materials are in use – it’s all aluminum or carbon fiber or composites. This being a VW though, the build quality is a top notch. The car at this time is a little unrefined, of course; but it shows plenty of potential. There is a reason that VW is involving itself in this project. Global warming is a reality. And if the world is to limit the effects of man-made atmospheric pollution to no more than a 2-degree rise in the temperature of the earth in about 50 years, every car on Earth will have to have hybrid mpg figures like this. The best part is, this Is not just some self-indulgent concept car. They are actually going to come to dealerships next to you.
