VW plans four-seat XL1, be called XL2

[TDIMeister]

VW plans four-seat XL1 to rival Honda FCV

XL1 doubles up on seats to become XL2, but the hyper-miling 310mpg rating of today's car won't be affected

It is also likely that the current 800cc twin-cylinder diesel engine (which delivers 47bhp) and the electric motor (27bhp) would have to be upgraded with more power, although VW would aim to retain the same overall efficiency. The 5.5kWh lithium-ion battery would also probably be enlarged.

More: http://insideevs.com/volkswagen-xl1-phev-gain-rear-doors-seat-four-become-vw-xl2/

 

[BeetleGo]

I say focus on the two seater market with loads of storage. I would assume that these cars would compete with ForTwo's. Urban transit moduals (UTM's?). Both should really not be on the highway. Not when we see so many LARGE trucks and SUV's.

 

[prothe]

Even if VW makes it, VW won't export it to the US.

All the US gets is cheesy gas hybrids that get 50 MPG in the city and 40 MPG on the highway, while Europe has had 70 mpg diesel's for more than 10 years. They never made it to the US, either.

VW's Lupo 1.2 TDI was brilliant, and would have knocked the socks off of the competition in the US, but it was never sold here.

 

[Ted Hurst]

Even if VW makes it, VW won't export it to the US.

All the US gets is cheesy gas hybrids that get 50 MPG in the city and 40 MPG on the highway, while Europe has had 70 mpg diesel's for more than 10 years. They never made it to the US, either.

VW's Lupo 1.2 TDI was brilliant, and would have knocked the socks off of the competition in the US, but it was never sold here.

I think those 70mpg claims are a bit unrealistic due to the European testing methods. If you look at say the 3 cyl. Polo on fuelly I'm seeing around a 45 mpg average. Based on what I'm seeing with the 2.0 VW diesel here in the US I'd bet 50 mpg would be easy to beat if you know how to drive for MPG's.

 

[bhtooefr]

The Lupo 3L was tuned rather differently from the 3-cylinder Polos (or even the standard 1.4 liter Lupo TDIs), and had more extreme fuel saving technology, though.

Looking at Spritmonitor, filtering for 61 PS diesels (that being the power rating of the 3L), the average fuel economy is 3.69 l/100 km, or 63.7 miles per US gallon: http://www.spritmonitor.de/de/ueber...?fueltype=1&power_s=61&power_e=61&powerunit=2

 

[TDIMeister]

You are the MAN `Tooef!

I'm beating the average on spritmonitor.de as well as the combined fuel economy according to the homologated European figures for my car (cf. the below and Fuelly data in my signature - granted I'm driving a higher proportion in the highway). What's interesting is that the spritmonitor.de average is very close to the Euro combined figure and I'm sure the entries have both FWD and quattro cars mixed together.

Urban 7.9, Extra urban 4.9 Combined 6.0 L/100km

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

Even if VW makes it, VW won't export it to the US.

Blame the U.S. government.

It's not VW's fault that it isn't allowed into the country.

The car exists and anyone can buy it.

 

[greengeeker]

VW's Lupo 1.2 TDI was brilliant, and would have knocked the socks off of the competition in the US as long as no hansautoparts parts were installed on it.

Agree wholeheartedly!

Honestly I had no idea you were a member on here. What a shame.

 

[waltzconmigo]

Quote:
Originally Posted by prothe
VW's Lupo 1.2 TDI was brilliant, and would have knocked the socks off of the competition in the US as long as no hansautoparts parts were installed on it.

greengeeker said "Agree wholeheartedly!"

Thanks for the chuckle. I almost missed the subtlety of your comment.


sorry about the poor quoting but it is the best I can do given my computer skills.

 

[kjclow]

Even if VW makes it, VW won't export it to the US.

One of the reasons we don't have it here is that the XL1 in it's current setup will not pass EPA requirements. The extremely high cost of manufacturing doesn't help either.

 

[Powder Hound]

So we can figure that:

1) Federalizing the car will add weight, expense, and decrease performance and mileage. Physics is physics; neither engineering nor government mandates can change that.
2) The car is already in the stratosphere of car prices. And there's not near enough sex appeal in the styling to counter that. Really, if you take a quick glance from a rear quarter view, you'd think it was a Honda Insight. Too bad, but as I stated above, physics is physics.
3) if sold on these shores, VW would sell (I think) less than 10.

It then becomes an engineering exercise; a good one for favorable press. Since the auto-"journalists" in this country write better copy when they are wined and dined on a euro-junket instead of a N.A. junket, there is literally nothing to be gained by bringing the XL1 nor any derivative here. And by not bringing them here, at least they will stay safe from our infamous killer-of-TDIs-friend above (the term "friend" being used rather loosely in this case).

Cheers,

PH

 

[greengeeker]

IF they were to bring it here the first thing the auto "journalists" would do would be to complain about how slow it is and continue to compare it against a BMW 3-series somehow. Their dubious benchmark of 6sec 0-60 times is being perpetuated throughout the industry and even down to the consumer and is what is keeping the fuel efficient, albeit slower, models that are available elsewhere in the world from hitting our shores.

 

[oilhammer]

IF they were to bring it here the first thing the auto "journalists" would do would be to complain about how slow it is and continue to compare it against a BMW 3-series somehow. Their dubious benchmark of 6sec 0-60 times is being perpetuated throughout the industry and even down to the consumer and is what is keeping the fuel efficient, albeit slower, models that are available elsewhere in the world from hitting our shores.

Quoted for truth.

 

[ranger pete]

They need to loose the unobtanium bits and the hybrid. They could keep the weight somewhere close to where it is. Maybe even consider going to a 2 cylinder gasser. I would like to see a 500cc 90 degree V-twin turbo. Nice thing about this engine configuration is that it is inherently balanced and makes beautiful ducati noises rather than parallel twin noises. No recorded V-8 faux engine soundtrack needed.

 

[bhtooefr]

The problem is that to meet VW's safety standards (certainly not regulatory standards for Europe, those are actually quite lax) while being light enough weight, unobtainium is needed.

And, the hybrid system is needed so they can cheat on the test to get the target fuel economy. PHEVs on the NEDC are rated for both their fuel and electricity consumption, there isn't a MPGe number, and VW is headlining just the fuel consumption from a full battery, and then putting the electricity consumption in small print... over an 11 km cycle.

 

[TDIMeister]

The Ducati powered variant exists.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a6712/volkswagen-ducati-powered-xl1/

 

[ranger pete]

Why the hell are they using the 1200 Duc?

195 HP?

Sure will be fun, I guess.

They need to do about a 500cc V-twin turbo. Maybe even a NA 500 would do the job.