Canada Kicks Ass
Volkswagen's small car a radical idea in fuel savings

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bootlegga @ Mon May 07, 2012 7:24 am

$1:
Imagine a car that could get 100 km for every litre: Volkswagen could be bringing its one-litre car to Canada soon.

Volkswagen is aiming to produce a new line of small cars, including the radical new XL1 plug-in diesel hybrid compound car, whose fuel efficiency makes current hybrids look like gas guzzlers.

The two-seater is without a doubt Volkswagen’s most ambitious environmental enterprise. While it was assumed the XL1 was still a concept car, winter testing spy shots that surfaced last week suggest it’s the real deal.

Around four metres in length, the XL1 sits as low as a Lamborghini Gallardo, and features the same lavish up-swinging doors. Earlier concept designs revealed back wheels that were covered by the body of the car, but last week’s photos showed off a more conservative look, even though the change would make the car less fuel-efficient.

The XL1 has been dubbed Volkswagen’s one-litre car due to its stated goal of achieving 100 km per litre, a somewhat mind-boggling number. But the XL1 concept car averaged 0.9 litre for every 100 km, so it is feasible the car could reach its goal when it becomes available to the public.

But in order to attain such a high fuel economy, the XL1 must sacrifice mass and power. The featherweight vehicle weighs in at a paltry 795 kg frame, and its tiny 800-cc diesel engine won’t strike fear into the heart’s of its competitors, but Volkswagen claims the car can reach 100 km/h in under 12 seconds. While you won’t be taking anyone off the line, it’s not the worst acceleration around.

For now, it’s all just speculation, and if Volkwagen does decide to take the car public, it is unknown if the specs will stay the same as the concept car or if they’ll be modified for production. There’s no official release date, but the images of the prototype signal that an official unveiling could be near. If the XL1 does hit production, it could be a major player in a market embracing environment and fuel friendly vehicles.


http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/p/2485/volksw ... el-savings

8O R=UP

That would be a great car for commuting around town.

   



Paulozzo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:49 am

Why pack a combustion engine in a car (a car that already has a electric engine) so it will "only" need 1liter of fuel for 100km?

How about not including a combustion engine at all and include more batteries ? You don't need a car with big range in a city. You need a small, cheap and reliable car. And hybrids aren't cheap nor reliable.

   



Brenda @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:58 am

Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Why pack a combustion engine in a car (a car that already has a electric engine) so it will "only" need 1liter of fuel for 100km?

How about not including a combustion engine at all and include more batteries ? You don't need a car with big range in a city. You need a small, cheap and reliable car. And hybrids aren't cheap nor reliable.

Do you have any idea what those batteries cost when they break down and you have to replace them?

   



2Cdo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:59 am

Brenda Brenda:
Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Why pack a combustion engine in a car (a car that already has a electric engine) so it will "only" need 1liter of fuel for 100km?

How about not including a combustion engine at all and include more batteries ? You don't need a car with big range in a city. You need a small, cheap and reliable car. And hybrids aren't cheap nor reliable.

Do you have any idea what those batteries cost when they break down and you have to replace them?


Not to mention the cost of hydro here in Ontario when it's time to recharge them!

   



Paulozzo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:05 am

Brenda Brenda:
Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Why pack a combustion engine in a car (a car that already has a electric engine) so it will "only" need 1liter of fuel for 100km?

How about not including a combustion engine at all and include more batteries ? You don't need a car with big range in a city. You need a small, cheap and reliable car. And hybrids aren't cheap nor reliable.

Do you have any idea what those batteries cost when they break down and you have to replace them?



Have you ever heard of "broken down" battery? Cos I sure haven't.

I only heard about "dead" batteries (batteries with depleted capacity or ability to recharge) or "broken down" diesel engine. Do you know how expensive is to fix a modern common rail diesel? Or car with a DPF filter, start-stop system etc?


Hybrids are only holding us back from the real deal - an electric car. Electric engine is way more effective and virtually unbreakable when compared with a combustion engine.

   



2Cdo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:08 am

Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Electric engine is way more effective and virtually unbreakable when compared with a combustion engine.


Sorry, but have had more than my share of electric powered items crap out way earlier than I expected.

   



Paulozzo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:15 am

Jesus F. Christ!
Please don't compare cheap Chinese hairdryer with a real electric engine.

Just compare an electric lawnmower with a fuel-powered one. (both from a quality maker like a German Stihl)

   



Paulozzo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:33 am

Okay, I apologize for my harshness, I know I am new here and I don't want to get a bad rep.

But I am only saying that hybrids are dead end. Just like Australopithecus.

I have studied combustion engines and kinetics and I see that we urgently need to concentrate ourselves on EVs.

   



BartSimpson @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:34 am

Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Electric engine is way more effective and virtually unbreakable when compared with a combustion engine.


And that's because the electricity comes from kittens playing around and looking cute? Or does electricity come from coal, hydro, and nuclear and then it loses 40% of the energy to heat in transmission?

Electric cars are a novel idea but so long as they don't generate their own power they'll never take over the market from portable fuel sources like petrol, diesel, or propane or natural gas.

   



BartSimpson @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:35 am

Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Okay, I apologize for my harshness, I know I am new here and I don't want to get a bad rep.

But I am only saying that hybrids are dead end. Just like Australopithecus.

I have studied combustion engines and kinetics and I see that we urgently need to concentrate ourselves on EVs.


+5, Welcome to CKA! [B-o]

   



Brenda @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:35 am

Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Brenda Brenda:
Paulozzo Paulozzo:
Why pack a combustion engine in a car (a car that already has a electric engine) so it will "only" need 1liter of fuel for 100km?

How about not including a combustion engine at all and include more batteries ? You don't need a car with big range in a city. You need a small, cheap and reliable car. And hybrids aren't cheap nor reliable.

Do you have any idea what those batteries cost when they break down and you have to replace them?



Have you ever heard of "broken down" battery? Cos I sure haven't.
Having owned an automotive service repair shop, yeah. Plenty.
$1:
I only heard about "dead" batteries (batteries with depleted capacity or ability to recharge) or "broken down" diesel engine. Do you know how expensive is to fix a modern common rail diesel? Or car with a DPF filter, start-stop system etc?
Still being in the automotive repair business, yeah.
Do you know how many times you can repair a diesel compared to replacing 1 battery? Do you know the difference in price between a battery for a diesel and a battery for an electric car? As long as those batteries have a 4 year or less life span, no one is going to exchange their diesel for an electric.

$1:
Hybrids are only holding us back from the real deal - an electric car. Electric engine is way more effective and virtually unbreakable when compared with a combustion engine.
Biggest bullshit ever.

   



andyt @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:45 am

The problem is cost and range. The Nissan Leaf is a perfectly nice electric car, but it costs a lot - people don't want to buy one with the short range it has, it's too expensive to buy just as an around city runabout.

We had cars like the Zen, that are much lighter and more basic. But they don't meet passenger car regs for crash worthiness or for adequate speed. I think this VW will also not pass crash tests and won't make it onto 1st world roads. Maybe suitable for 3rd world countries.

At least hybrids allow you to have a fully useful car with and extended range. But, most buyers who buy a hybrid don't replace it with a hybrid. Guess there's something they don't like about them.

The other problem with plug in electrics is that we don't have the infrastructure for them. No fast charging stations available. But, even if we did, in North America we don't have the output to provide electricity for a bunch of new users. Even in Quebec, with massive hydro, they just couldn't provide enough juice if people seriously took up electric cars. And other jurisdictions don't have hydro, they generated electricity with coal, so you're just moving he source of pollution from the tailpipe to the smokestack. And possibly making that pollution worse - certainly more particulates.

   



Paulozzo @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:46 am

74Ah battery for my diesel car costs around $100 (give or take) and a new rotary pump or turbocharger costs a fortune.

I dunno about the batteries for EV but I am sure that if the tar sands start running dry, the market with deal with it.

   



Brenda @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:48 am

The pump or charger are not the costs. The mechanic is.
How about $4k for 1 battery?

   



andyt @ Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:49 am

Paulozzo Paulozzo:
74Ah battery for my diesel car costs around $100 (give or take) and a new rotary pump or turbocharger costs a fortune.

I dunno about the batteries for EV but I am sure that if the tar sands start running dry, the market with deal with it.


Yep, they'll convert cars to natural gas, which they should have already done.

   



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