Volkswagen XL1

Gasoline may cost $2 a gallon or less in many parts of the U.S., but new competitors to the Toyota Prius seem to be popping up all over the place. The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq range of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric models just made its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show, only a few weeks after...

Leaked patent images purportedly show BMW's ultra-efficient plug-in hybrid research vehicle.

The limited-production Volkswagen XL1 ultra-economy two-seater gets astounding fuel efficiency from its two-cylinder diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain. It's well over 100 miles per gallon if you use the European test cycle (which differs from U.S. tests). But at a six-figure price and a production...

Last week's media days at the Paris Motor Show were the usual mix of cars and marketing. They brought together stunning concept cars, more prosaic production models under pin spots, and speeches laying out how important every single model actually was to the future of the automotive world. DON'T...

Volkswagen goes where no one has gone before in a new ad.

For a two-seat car priced at more than $100,000, not sold in North America, and with just 250 built, the Volkswagen XL1 gets an extraordinary amount of attention. That's due to the hugely high fuel-economy ratings for the tiny carbon-fiber vehicle powered by a diesel plug-in hybrid system. It's...

The Volkswagen XL1 is a high-technology, high-cost plug-in hybrid that, while intriguing, will do very little do directly change the automotive landscape. Like many such projects though, lessons learned from its development and status as a rolling economy experiment could help production...

We always knew the Volkswagen XL1 wouldn't be cheap. It's a limited-run, carbon-fiber bodied, plug-in hybrid, gull-winged low-slung eco supercar. None of that sounds cheap. And as Volkswagen UK reveals pricing for the light-weight plug-in hybrid, we now know just how not-cheap it actually is...

Ah, conspiracy theories and urban legends. They lure us in with the promise of dark plots and amazing events--even as our rational minds suggest they're likely not true. Now the ultra-efficient Volkswagen XL1 economy car, the highly aerodynamic two-seat diesel plug-in hybrid we drove last fall, has...

We didn't expect the Volkswagen XL1 to be as much fun to drive as it is. Which makes it doubly a shame that Volkswagen won't be selling its radically efficient, two-seat, plug-in diesel hybrid XL1 model in North America. At a price of € 111,000 (roughly $153,000), the 250 XL1 cars that...

Volkswagen's XL1 might be one of the most exciting and unusual green vehicles of recent years, but it's certainly not one of the most accessible. Pricing around the $150,000 mark, based on the German price of 111,000 Euros, puts it in the same league as high-end sports cars. But as we've come to...

Volkswagen is reportedly working on a performance version of the XL1 plug-in hybrid.

Volkswagen is best-known for its diesel vehicles for those associating the German automaker with fuel efficiency, but its future plans stretch well beyond endless TDI models. Speaking with Automotive News Europe, VW's development coordinator Ulrich Hackenberg says making cars lighter and greener is...

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...

While the assembled hoardes drooled over Ferraris, Porsches and McLarens at March's Geneva Motor Show, those of a greener disposition were more interested in another vehicle. Launched alongside the hybrid hypercars was a true hybrid supercar in its own right--the plug-in diesel hybrid Volkswagen...

Will this be the car that finally makes the ultra-aerodynamic and futuristic GM EV1 electric car look old-fashioned? Today, VW Group took the wraps off the production version of the Volkswagen XL1, a turbodiesel plug-in hybrid two-seater that will be its most fuel-efficient model ever offered. The...

Volkswagen has toyed with the idea of cigar-shaped ultra-eco cars for some time now, but a production car is finally on the way. The Volkswagen XL1 is a plug-in diesel hybrid with a body seemingly beamed in from a future time. It's the physical representation of the benefits of reducing weight and...

If one is a fluke and two is coincidence, then three makes a trend for sure. Audi is close to approving plans to build a limited number of the all-electric two-seat Urban Concept vehicle that it launched at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, according to CAR magazine in England, If built for sale...

The concept car has a lot to answer for. They appear at motor shows around the world to preview what we can expect from future models, but invariably the production model ends up about half as interesting to look at and without most of the technology, thanks to cost constraints. Even worse though...

We’re just a few weeks away from the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, and already know about some of the electric and plug-in cars that are due to be unveiled there. But a report from The Financial Times hints that Volkswagen could be preparing an as-yet undheard of single-seat urban electric car to...