Volkswagen XL1
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It’s been less than five years since Volkswagen produced its limited run of just 250 XL1 plug-in diesel hybrid coupes, of which only 200 were sold to retail buyers. The Volkswagen XL1 has all the makings of an instant collectible, with its combination of low production volume, advanced materials, futuristic design, exotic-car gullwing doors, and a clean-slate engineering approach aimed at making what was, in essence, a poster car for its efficiency, not for its acceleration or lap times. The XL1 wasn’t U.S.-legal and thus wasn’t even offered in the U.S. But if you have the...
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Volkswagen dedicated hybrid Prius fighter to be called XL3?
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...
John Voelcker -
BMW '706-MPG' Research Car Aims At VW XL1 Ultra-Efficiency Vehicle
Leaked patent images purportedly show BMW's ultra-efficient plug-in hybrid research vehicle.
Stephen Edelstein -
Ultra-Efficient BMW Four-Seat Plug-In Hybrid For Research Only, Not Sales: Report
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...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen XL Sport At Paris Motor Show: The Details (Video)
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...
John Voelcker -
Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock Discuss VW Electric Cars In New Ad (In German)
Volkswagen goes where no one has gone before in a new ad.
Stephen Edelstein -
One of the best ways to make a very fast car is to start with a small vehicle that's extremely light and strong, and add a more powerful engine. That's the genesis of the Volkswagen XL Sport unveiled yesterday at the Paris Motor Show. If the small, lightweight vehicle happens to be the ultra-economical Volkswagen XL1 diesel plug-in hybrid, with a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic bodyshell, just think what adding more power could do. The XL1, with only 250 produced and sold--each at a cost well over $100,000--is the most economical vehicle in the Volkswagen lineup. The XL Sport, if it were to...
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Four-Seat Volkswagen 'XL2' Diesel Plug-In Hybrid Coming?
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...
John Voelcker -
Next-Generation VW Golf Looks To XL1 Eco Car For Better MPG
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...
Antony Ingram -
Volkswagen XL1 Hybrid Deliveries Begin In UK, And It Ain't Cheap...
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...
Antony Ingram -
Ultra-Efficient VW XL1: Now An Urban Legend, Debunked By Snopes
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...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen XL1 138-MPG Diesel Plug-In Hybrid: Drive Report
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
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Orders For 261-MPG Volkswagen XL1 Exceed Production of 200
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...
Antony Ingram -
Volkswagen XL Sport: Ducati Gives Ultra-Efficient VW More Power
Volkswagen is reportedly working on a performance version of the XL1 plug-in hybrid.
Stephen Edelstein -
VW Plans XL1-Derived Vehicles, Ultra-Budget Car
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...
Antony Ingram -
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...
Bengt Halvorson -
Volkswagen XL1 Diesel Plug-In Gets "Just" 120 MPG In Real-World Drive
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...
Antony Ingram -
As the Geneva Motor Show finally closes its doors to the public, many will go home lusting after the LaFerrari or McLaren's P1 hypercars. For others though, the show's indisputed star was the production Volkswagen XL1--as thoroughly engineered to be economical as the others are to be fast. While VW hasn't yet revealed pricing for the ultra-frugal XL1, it's expected to be high. Happily, we may still see some of its technology in more affordable models. Autocar reveals the XL1's powertrain engineering is to be scaled up for future plug-in hybrid cars, on the Volkswagen Group's MQB platform...
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Volkswagen XL1 Diesel Plug-In Hybrid: Live Photos From Geneva
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...
John Voelcker -
261 MPG Volkswagen XL1 Production Confirmed, Debuts Geneva
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...
Antony Ingram -
Audi To Sell Electric Urban Concept, Join The Not-Quite-Car Parade?
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...
John Voelcker -
Just Build It Already! 5 Green Cars We're Still Waiting For
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...
Antony Ingram -
Will VW Unveil An Electric Single-Seat Urban Car In Frankfurt?
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...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield