VW unveils 180 mile-per-gallon, two-seater L1 hybrid at Frankfurt Motor Show

Volkswagen has unveiled its answer to the recession at The Frankfurt Motor Show, the L1 - a 180 mile-per-gallon, tandem two-seater hybrid car.

By Andrew English, Motoring CorrespondentPublished: 12:18PM BST 15 Sep 2009
Andrew English, the Telegraph Motoring Correspondent, tries out VW's L1, an 180 mile-per-gallon, two-seater hybrid car, at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
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.
Piëch's vision
The L1 is a result of an extensive Volkswagen research project which commenced in 1998.
It looked into ways of saving production costs in exotic materials such as carbon fibre, as well as combining tiny petrol engines and electric motors to give huge fuel consumption.
The original concept was ordered by Volkswagen supervisory board head Dr Ferdinand Piëch in 2002.
In 2002 on the eve of his retiring from the role of VW Group chairman, Dr Piëch drove it from his office in Wolfsburg to the VW shareholders' meeting in Hamburg, recording 317·4mpg at an average speed of 43·5mph.
"We will never build a one-litre car," he said as he stepped out of the cockpit, "but it could give us the knowledge to build a two-litre car."
That research concept was retired to the company's museum in Wolfsburg, but in the R&D department work continued.