Volkswagen has used the Geneva Motor Show to unveil the production version of its miraculous XL1 two-seater, the pet project of Dr Ferdinand Piech, the company’s enigmatic leader. It was Dr Piech who championed the idea of a car capable of fuel consumption less than 1.0l/100kms and your Car Showroom correspondent was there when he famously drove the first prototype from the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg to the Frankfurt Motor Show media day in 2002.
Weighing just 795kgs and with a super-aerodynamic body delivering a drag co-efficient of Cd 0.189, the plug-in hybrid Volkswagen XL1 returns combined cycle fuel consumption of just 0.9l/100kms, exhaust C02 emissions of only 21g/km, can cruise at 100km/h and run for 50kms on pure electric power.
Under the bonnet is a 35kW two-cylinder turbo-diesel engine and a 20kW electric motor driving through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Only 23.1 per-cent of the Volkswagen XL1’s all-up weight comes from iron and steel - 21.3 per-cent (including the bodyshell) is made from carbon-fibre and 22.5 per-cent is lightweight metals.
The Volkswagen XL1 is now entering production but there are no plans for sales in Australia.
