I don't intend to write reams, but today I had a quick drive in a VW XL1. Its VW's diesel electric hybrid that claims to do 313mpg!

 

If you don't know, it looks like this:

 

First impressions were that I quite like the styling, but it is very small! It is a low car to get into, but once you are in I found it pretty comfortable, the cabin is snug. The seats are offset so that the passenger is sat rearwards of the driver and slightly behind.

 

Once moving, in electric mode it was pretty quiet, I'd say slightly worse than the Tesla I got a go in last year. However, despite what the blurb says, the diesel engine (a 800cc 2 cylinder affair) is pretty rattley, sounds a bit like an old generator! It drove fairly nicely, being so low does heighten the sensation of speed! However, my biggest gripe was the very heavy steering. It was very light about centre, but away from this it was very heavy, almost go kart like. The other thing that took some getting used to was the wing mirrors being screens located in the door cards. I struggled to gain any sort of depth perception and there is no rear view mirror so I had to be very careful when changing lanes! The ride quality wasn't too bad, I did think it was a little crashy though.

 

There was almost no storage space inside the cabin and the rear boot was pretty small. It would be enough for a small suitcase however.

 

We averaged 105mpg on the run we did, so not quite as claimed! It does seem to sacrifice a reasonable amount in the pursuit of economy. However I think if the steering was lighter, it'd actually make quite a fun car as it handled well and had a go kart feeling about it.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd share my thoughts and if you aren't asleep by now then well done!

I like the front half of the car, the back of it is just horrid. It looks sort of odd being able to see the front wheels but not the rear.

Yes, bit far off the claimed 313mpg.

In the UK was it? They are for sale I think, about £100k IIRC.

I like the front half of the car, the back of it is just horrid. It looks sort of odd being able to see the front wheels but not the rear.

 

I don't think the back is too bad, especially in the flesh. I don't mind the hidden wheels either!

 

Yes, bit far off the claimed 313mpg.

In the UK was it? They are for sale I think, about £100k IIRC.

 

I'm not surprised it was a long way off the claimed mpg, all of the hybrids seem to do it.

 

Yes, in the UK. Although it was a left hand drive. I got to drive it because my employer occasionally buys things like this for evaluation. £100k seems about right from what I've seen, they only weigh 800kg unladen but they use a lot of carbon fibre and carbon fibre reinforced plastic which probably won't help the price.

The claimed MPG is a bit unfairly weighted for hybrids as they are subjected to the same tests as normal cars and spend most of their time with the engine off so of course they're going to do well with a full charge and trying to not let the engine kick in but as soon as the engine is used it starts eating into that 313mpg pretty quickly.

 

I saw one of these at the Gadget show the other year. They look pretty cool I think. From the rear they look so futuristic!

 

 

 

Apparently cruising at 60mph the cars only needs 8bhp to propel it along. It only has a 2.6 gallon tank too so on a long run once you've used up the battery charge you're not going to be able to travel far on diesel alone.