One-of-200 Volkswagen XL1 for sale
Range anxiety putting you off EVs? Maybe VW's super-rare two-seater diesel hybrid will do the trick...
Now seems as good a time as ever for Volkswagen to revisit the XL1. In an age where range anxiety - or its close relation, charging anxiety - is still holding some buyers back from spending their hard earned on an electric car (well, that and some hair-raising resale values), an ultra-slippery EV ‘sports car’ with an eye on eking out as many electrons as possible from its battery would serve as the perfect showcase of just how far a fully-charged BEV could travel. But no, instead we get two-and-a-half tonne SUVs, joyless mobility boxes and hypercars with more power than any tech billionaire could ever need.
Perhaps that’s a little mean, but short of a few Pikes Peak monsters and the bonkers McMurtry Speirling, there aren’t too many EVs out there that get you properly excited about the electric age. Just look at where the diesel car was 20 years ago. Sure, they could outlast a petrol car on a single tank, but they were known for being clattery, sooty and downright dreary. Then Audi and Peugeot delivered sleek, whisper-quiet diesel prototypes to Le Mans and ran rings around the petrol-powered opposition for nine years on the bounce. And just like that, fuel-sipping diesels didn’t seem quite as uncool as once thought.
While Audi and Peugeot were battling it out for top honours at La Sarthe, Volkswagen was working on a quirky little sports car called the XL1, like the car we have here, to show just how frugal a diesel engine could truly be. In fact, the XL1 project predates the diesel domination at Le mans by at least half a decade, with the first concept car, named the VW 1-litre, appearing in 2002 as a 299cc, one-cylinder-engined prototype that consumed just one litre of fuel per 100 kilometres (hence the 1-litre name, which isn’t a reference to the even teenier motor). A handful of changes would appear over the years, notably an increase to two-whole cylinders and a move to a more conventional two-seater arrangement from the concept’s tandem layout. Otherwise, the XL1 arrived in showrooms in 2013 looking just as outlandish as it did on its debut 11 years prior.
Not that it was a proper series production car, mind. VW only built 250 of them, of which only 26 came to the UK for the eye-watering sum of £98,500. That got you a two-cylinder, 800cc diesel engine developing 48hp, which came paired with an electric motor for a combined 75hp. Doesn’t sound particularly impressive, does it? What was, however, was the ultra-slippery 0.189Cd body and slender 795kg kerb weight courtesy of a carbon fibre-reinforced polymer tub, carbon fibre seats and polycarbonate side windows.
And that's before you get to the claimed mpg figures. According to Volkswagen, the XL1 managed 340mpg in testing, though a figure of 313mpg was officially quoted to “due to EU rules”, while tailpipe emissions were supposedly recorded at just 21g/km. Obviously, those figures must be taken with a pinch of salt. Even ignoring the elephant in the room, the tests were conducted using the old NEDC system, which was not conceived with hybrids in mind. Nevertheless, real-world accounts put the fuel economy well into triple figures, meaning many hundreds of miles from a ten-litre tank of diesel.
Whether the XL1’s frugality is of interest to you or not, a major part of its appeal is that it’s essentially a concept that somehow made it to production, and that’s something VW seldom does - if ever. This example, chassis number 148, has been with its original owner from the start, and they’ve gone to great lengths to preserve its originality. The includes wrapping the passenger’s shoes ‘in a towel’ to protect the interior, the ad says, which makes the claimed ‘as new’ condition a little easier to believe. You’ll need £69,950 for this one. Perhaps take the precaution of wrapping your feet in old shopping bags if you're interested. Wouldn’t want the original owner thinking you aren’t a serious buyer.
This, W12 Phaeton, V10 Touareg - that'd be a nice (expensive!) stable.
Was Piech great?
I have mixed feelings - for sure a hugely talented engineer but I'm never sure he didn't create a highly destabilized structure at VW that eventually led to diesel gate. Yes he was dynamic and created a lot of new models (in the bedroom as well as at work) but my word he developed a lot of cars that have hardly been a financial success, perhaps he could never stop seeing the company as his personal plaything?
To some a monster but to others a hero, two people I have known were positive in their dealings with him, one seeing him regularly in the office and another through the investor circles - but they were both very strong personalities and I wonder if that was the secret - he could not respect anyone who came over as weak or sycophantic?
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