VW L1 Hybrid: "Most Efficient Car In The World" (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Volkswagen has traditionally been known more for its quirky branding than its bold claims. That didn't stop the German automaker from recently declaring that it had built "the most fuel-efficient car in the world." (Scroll down for our PHOTOS.)

As The New York Times reported, when unveiling its bullet-shaped VW L1 Hybrid at the Frankfurt Auto Show last week, VW didn't shy away from audacious boasts. Here's the NYT:

"In photos, it looks like a car. In the metal, it has the appearance of a small plane, to which someone forgot to attach the wings and a tail. Walter de Silva, Volkswagen's head of design, says the shape 'redefines classic and aesthetic vehicle traits. All of its moving parts are integrated so accurately that the body resembles a rocket or jet.'"

Though, it won't be available until 2013, the two-seater L1 quickly become the talk of Frankfurt. The diesel-electric hybrid engine gets a whopping 157.8 miles per gallon and tops out at 100 miles per hour, according to CarConnection. The L1 also has an "impressive" driving range of 416 miles, which beats plug-in competitors.

Gizmag took a look at the vehicle in Frankfurt and called the vehicle "a revolution." Its oh-so slim width, they said, "has no comparison in today's production of cars."

WATCH Gizmag's take -- and check out our slideshow of the VW L1 below:

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Comments

[vdub2]

I would buy one frankly....we need to be more efficient until we can make some infinite power resource

http://www.vwsale.co.uk - volkswagen will hopefully start bringing this into reality

[Mahi Joe]

I would really be interested to see how this car rates in crash tests being it is made of plastic.

[Dailypolitics55]

Obama's reform is a joke. There will be no prosecutions, no jail time. Nothing. No change.
Like the investigations into the CIA, this will go NO WHERE, end in NO PROSECUTIONS and serve only as a way for them to WASTE TIME and RUN OUT THE CLOCK until the next round of elections before digging deeper holes.

hat tip to http://www.iamned.com

I am very frustrated by the lack of progress with regards to heath care, education, energy, and financial reform. Obama is acting like an empty suit.

[Saidas]

And this relates to this article how?

[FrankenPC]

Thank you VW! It won't be long before Toyota and Nissan follow up with similar design concepts.

[Layman23]

Nope. Toyota has a solar car that is the most efficient. And just like this model above, its for experimental puposes only and not for mass consumption.

BTW, VW, BMW and Merc are negotiating hybrid drive tech transfer from toyota !

[EinChicago]

Umm. well considering how well this car sold back when it was the Messerschmitt KR175 and KR200, and the FMR Tg500, hopw could it possibly fail this time? After all, they're made the body a little prettier, and all.

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

If you give this idea a really good hard look it's a no brainer.We are ruining our environmen­t,depletin­g our resources at lightspeed,causing untold damage to the planet for the sake of getting from point A to point B.
If we want to extend the warranty on planet Earth we need to take drastic action.We need our highways re-striped to add more lanes for smaller,narrower vehicles.We need to make it so people clamor for this type of vehicle.It's not hard to imagine,just hard/impossible to overcome the status quo of corporations that profit from all the wasting of our worlds resources.

[Saidas]

Re-striped for narrower lanes? So we are going to have narrow tractor trailer trucks too?

[joceeco]

Who can afford such a thing, we can't even keep our homes these days. Hopefully Obama will steer some of that stimulus money towards the American people. I don't really like the idea of giving all of our taxpayer dollars to the banks, only to have them turn around and sell it back to us at mob-style rates.

[fignozzle]

how stupid have we been and for how long??????­??????????­?????

[cliffhammond]

Wouldn't it even be more efficient to drive a Vespa Scooter in a rain coat?

[Wardruna]

… and it would be safer.

[robivecchi]

Given those options I'll just wait for the bus.

[Rik Jones]

amazing vehicle. might start saving for one now.

[OgreDaddy]

I have been wondering how much energy and pollution it takes to build carbon fiber body parts.

I figured maybe the coal industry could maybe turn all their smoke stacks into something
we could all use.

I don't know anything about these advanced plastics, but having a strong rust free body
for the life of the car would be a pleasure.

Fixing a wrecked body might get expensive though.

The number one thing that bugs me about these new engine and battery hybrids,
is the cost to replace the batteries and the responsibility to expose of them or recycle them.

No one is EVER selling me one of these designs without a lifetime battery warranty plan.

I've heard some current hybrid batteries cost thousands to replace.

[OldKnute]

Actually OgreDaddy, turning the spent gasses from coal combustion into usable products is something I have advocated for many decades. Converting the CO2 emissions of coal burning power plants using various algae, is simple. Here is something you might try to prove out this technology.

Take a large, glass, pickle jar filled with water.
Add an inch or so of river or pond mud.
Place the jar in a window that gets good sunlight.
Blow through a straw several times a day, adding CO2 from your breath to the water.

In a few days the water will begin to turn green, soon a deep brownish green from the development of algae.
In a week or so, strain the algae rich water through a coffee filter and dry and save these algae residue.

You have just manufactured,,, FISH FOOD,,, from your own waste CO2.

If fish are not your thing, cook the algae and make plastic seat covers for your car.

All the best
Knute

[Saidas]

But what happens to the pickles?

[Whycee54]

OK now.. we Americans have 3 years to loose enough weight to fit into that thing. GOOD LUCK...

[iamfinch]

yep I'm sure it will be a real hit in Europe as well.......

Practicality is everything. I am very enthused that our technology is stretching to cars like this where we can do much much more with a lot less fuel, but regardless of how fat you are, you will never see many of these one-seaters filling the roads. Yes a few eco-minded people will choose to drive this, which is great but come on..... really I don't see this car as a success. The technology in the engine is but not the car.

[totalliberal]

It's a two seater.

[tazdelaney]

PART 4 dammit... then there was the case of detroit's golden boy, delorean. he had designed the finest cars of the time, from the studebaker blackhawk, the mustang, the firebird and camaro, dodge charger. he tried to get detroit to back making his own car but no-go. so he started it on his own. soon he was running out of money. then came the cocaine bust... but the case was thrown out in one morning flat because the man who sold him the coke was an FBI agent and the man he sold the coke to was an FBI agent. (we can assume that each party to that transaction were getting high as kites.) but delorean was ruined and all anyone remembers is that 'he got busted with all that cocaine.' that's what the FBI does to people with ideas that are just too damn bright.

amy had an uncle who bought 2 delorean cars. he was one of those puffed chests who had to do everything ostentatiously. we called him 'mr big man.' well, he sold one of em to a rich kid but the other one he drove all the time and said that it was in the shop 3 times in 15 years, it's stainless steel engine still shiny and rustless. he died on psych pharma and wine in it last year when the car was some 27 years old and still looked like new, unlike himself.

[tazdelaney]

then with a government which operated corporatist with 'thinking like "what's good for GM is good for america"... we had the FBI sabotaging bucky fuller's 1939 3-wheeled gyroscopic high mileage little dymaxion car at its first big public demonstration.

then we get the famous story of how detroit and the FBI crushed tucker, whose innovations would've cost a fortune if applied by detroit. (ford had spent $4billion redoing their factories after WWII... they definitely didn't want to have to do that again.)

[RJII]

one east coast pothole and you need a new one.