Gone are the days of our automobiles running 5-6 kilometers per liter of fuel, Volkswagen is preparing to unveil the much hyped Volkswagen L1. The Volkswagen L1 marks a milestone in the history of the automotive industry, this "bullet car" has received the moniker the "1-liter car" because it is able to run 100 km on a single liter of gas or 235 mpg, an unheard of distance in today's market. CO2 emissions of the 160 km/h fast concept car are just 39 g/km.
Volkwagen L1 Hybrid Concept Car
The key feature behind the Volkswagen L1's low energy consumption converting to the increase in mileage is the Volkswagen L1's extremely aerodynamic and lightweight construction, shaped like a bullet (hence bullet car), with a slightly different seating arrangement placing two occupants in a row enabling the extremely low profile design. The Volkswagen L1's body is composed of lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum allowing it to tip the scales at a mere 838 pounds
The L1 can reach 100 mph, but fuel economy at that speed drops to a pitiful 1.38 liters per 100 kilometers, or 170 mpg.
'It is an enormous challenge to control costs in producing the monocoque out of CFRP,' says Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the Board of Management for the Volkswagen Brand with responsibility for development. Both technically and visually, the CFRP body is already considered a significant achievement in car design. Unique on this car are the proportions of its dimensions. While the length of the L1 at 3,813 millimeters is still similar to that of a Volkswagen Fox, and its height of 1,143 millimeters nearly matches that of a Lamborghini Murciélago, the car's aerodynamically optimized width (1,200 millimeters) has no comparisons in the world of today's production cars.
In total, the Volkswagen brand is represented by seven world premieres at the 2009 International Motor Show in Frankfurt. Along with the E-Up! and L1, they include the Polo Three-Door as the new entry-level version in the Polo model range, new BlueMotion versions of the Polo, Golf and Passat with record fuel economy and the Golf R as the highest performance Golf ever produced.
Even so, the L1 looks refined and close to series production, which couldn't be said of the 2002 concept. It could be on the market as soon as 2013, Volkswagen sources tell us. The L1 may seem ironic to those who remember that VW is also responsible for Bugatti, which makes the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veyron, and which just unveiled the W-16 Galibier sedan concept. But if you think about the styles of both Piëch and current VW chairman Martin Winterkorn, this contradiction seems logical: These guys both tend to go to extremes. And we submit that the Volkswagen L1 is a more significant step in saving resources than are heavy gasoline-electric hybrids.
