Posted on 09/17/2009 9:11:20 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
The L1 concept is shorter than a VW Fox and lower than a Lamborghini. When it goes into production in 2013, it will be the most aerodynamic car in the world and, at just 840lb, the lightest.
It is built of the most exotic materials, with slippery carbon-fibre coachwork, a fighter aircraft’s cockpit canopy and rear-view television cameras instead of wing mirrors.
Its tiny, 800cc engine is one half of a VW 1.6-litre TDI turbodiesel unit, which delivers maximum power of 29 brake horsepower together with a 14 horse power electric motor to provide extra oomph for overtaking.
Free road tax
The L1 is capable of 99mph and 0-62mph acceleration in just 14.3sec and emits carbon dioxide at the parsimonious rate of just 39g/km, meaning free road tax in the UK.
In fact if the average British motorist swapped his 35mpg hatchback for an L1, he would reduce his annual fuel bill from about £1,430 to about £277.
No prices have been mentioned, but the sheer knowhow involved in the L1 as well as the exotic materials used in its construction means this new generation of super car might save money at the pumps but is unlikely to be very cheap to buy.
Green power
The Frankfurt motor show has opened into the worst sales slump the industry has seen for decades. Europe’s car markets were over 14pc down in the first six months of this year and mass-market car makers are having their sales artificially buoyed up by scrappage schemes.
However, despite ecology, frugality and the environment receiving more than lip service, with lots of hybrids and tiny electric prototypes, it was the big, heavy and fast cars that captured the headlines.
So Volkswagen’s hybrid L1 concept marks a refreshing change from the normal.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ain’t gonna need it. BO and the commie ‘RATS will be long gone in 2013. They’ll all be laying on the beach in Havana counting OUR MONEY.
Yeah, I want to get into that death trap. NOT!
Reminds me of the freaky deaky Dutchman’s car in Goldmember.
Looks interesting. I would not want to ride in one, or own one.
Good luck surviving even a fender bender. But then people aren’t important to these eco-freaks.
Not very impressed. In 1972 I bought a Honda 600 Coupe for under US$2000. 42 MPG reliably, round-town and highway ( my driving patterns, okay?). 36 HP as I recall, though maybe not as "clean" as this car.
No hybrid games of running it off the wall-charger. You got what you got. No fancy expensive-to-replace battery.
Agile! Avoided several major accidents (including a couple of CA freeway pileups) by skirting them in ways larger cars couldn't have.
Reliable -- stolen at 170k miles, original engine.
It looks like a suppository.
Hmm...29 horses with an extra 14 for passing? Should blow Porsche right off the Autobahn.
Looks just the right size for me to flip over with my bare hands in the middle of the night...
NAH...Obomba better be in Africa!
I could take it out of commission if I ran into it with my mountain bike, for crying out loud. And I could just imagine taking it over the Mackinac Bridge.
So, who wants to test that joke in Tucson’s summer heat?
I’ll bet the carbon fiber coachwork stands up pretty well in a crash, but the resulting costs for repair mean that even minor accidents are going to result in totaling out the car.
The tragedy here, tho, is that using nothing fancier than a computer-controlled diesel engine coupled to a 10 to 13 speed transmission and some of the exterior aerodynamics of this car, we could easily have 50MPG cars right now, they’d have a conventional passenger cabin and be able to accelerate up to speed in such a fashion that you wouldn’t be dead for entering a LA freeway.
The story may be wrong. It actually gets 270 mpg and it goes down to about 180 mpg at a steady 100 mph. I did not see 0-60 time.
If it screws Obama’s bosses the Saudis then I am all for it. It is essentially a turbo diesel hybrid motorcyle. I think it is pretty cool. Not for everyone but some people might like it.
That will slide under a truck so smooth that emergency services won’t even know it’s there.
I once slipped past a 40+ car California freeway pileup in a small car, with not so much as a scratch on the car. The "compact" car behind me that tried to duplicate the move only plugged the hole and became the recipient of subsequent pile-ins.
This was not the only accident I've avoided in this way.
If you're not a quick and agile driver I definitely recommend that you drive "armor." You have no other choice, and I'm not down on you one bit for it.
Whether this VW L1 would meet *my* requirements is another matter. I enjoy light, agile and responsive and I'm not yet persuaded that the hybrids meet my particular requirements.
Gee, looks like it would be really great in the snow. Especially those icy storms where the precipitation just sticks to everything...
LOL. Not until they peeled the semi’s body from above it.
Looks like a vacuum cleaner!
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