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The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future, beamed into your local VW dealer

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The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future, beamed into your local VW dealer

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future, beamed into your local VW dealer

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The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future, beamed into your local VW dealer

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content.description[]
The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future

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Volkswagen’s pet high-mpg project that aims for less than one-litre of fuel consumption per 100km travelled. The XL1 achieves it

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with a potential for more than 300mpg. It’s a bit like a tame spaceship: wing doors

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tiny TV screens instead of rear-view mirrors

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mid-mounted 800cc two-cylinder diesel (basically half a 1.6-litre TDI)

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mated to a 5.5kWh lithium-ion battery and 25bhp electric motor sitting above the driven rear wheels. It’s more than a little bizarre-looking with those faired-in rear wheels

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and is actually pretty tiny – the same size as a supermini

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except much lower. The exotic continues under the skin

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too - pretty much everything is CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic)

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other bits aluminium. The tyres are still rubber

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The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future

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Despite the supercar-esque construction and layout, the XL-1 isn’t fast. And it doesn’t matter one bit. It has a nicely judged 7-spd DSG ‘box and a drag factor (0.186Cd, aero fans) so low it slices through the air like a blade. Lift off and it disengages the drivetrain and ‘coasts’, barely slowing down on the flat, and when you hit the throttle the little motor fires up like a tiny outboard and pushes you forward with surprising ease and grace. Of course, you can just use it as an EV in town with up to 30 miles of range from a single charge, and it feels massless and neat just pottering. Yes, it is an extreme example of the hypermiling breed, but it feels like the future. And when you get out of town, it’s actually… brilliant. Tiny, skinny tyres, rear-wheel drive balance and unassisted steering. Again, not fast. But fun. And utterly unique.

# data.attributes.field_cars_driving.processed
Despite the supercar-esque construction and layout, the XL-1 isn’t fast. And it doesn’t matter one bit. It has a nicely judged 7-spd DSG ‘box and a drag factor (0.186Cd, aero fans) so low it slices through the air like a blade. Lift off and it disengages the drivetrain and ‘coasts’, barely slowing down on the flat, and when you hit the throttle the little motor fires up like a tiny outboard and pushes you forward with surprising ease and grace. Of course, you can just use it as an EV in town with up to 30 miles of range from a single charge, and it feels massless and neat just pottering. Yes, it is an extreme example of the hypermiling breed, but it feels like the future. And when you get out of town, it’s actually… brilliant. Tiny, skinny tyres, rear-wheel drive balance and unassisted steering. Again, not fast. But fun. And utterly unique.

# data.attributes.field_cars_inside.value
The XL1 feels very normal, and yet decidedly odd, from the inside. The passenger sits slightly aft of the driver (the batteries are placed in front of the passenger’s feet), there are tiny TV screens in the doors in place of rear-view mirrors, and the space itself is very low and reclined. But after that, it feels like a full-house VW production car. The seats are good, the binnacle just like the one you find in a Golf, it even has air-con and a stereo. It feels like mass production, and in a car as weird as this, that’s comforting. Just be aware that everybody – and we do mean everybody – will take a picture. It’s that kind of car.

# data.attributes.field_cars_inside.processed
The XL1 feels very normal, and yet decidedly odd, from the inside. The passenger sits slightly aft of the driver (the batteries are placed in front of the passenger’s feet), there are tiny TV screens in the doors in place of rear-view mirrors, and the space itself is very low and reclined. But after that, it feels like a full-house VW production car. The seats are good, the binnacle just like the one you find in a Golf, it even has air-con and a stereo. It feels like mass production, and in a car as weird as this, that’s comforting. Just be aware that everybody – and we do mean everybody – will take a picture. It’s that kind of car.

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Only 250 will be produced, so this thing will likely retain value as an oddity. It’s remarkably good to drive long-distance, but the (surprisingly decent) boot soon gets eaten up by the PC-sized charger inverter you need to plug it in. But that’s not really the point – this is a car that stretches and moulds the imagination – we can’t help but applaud VW for putting the XL1 into production.

# data.attributes.field_cars_owning.processed
Only 250 will be produced, so this thing will likely retain value as an oddity. It’s remarkably good to drive long-distance, but the (surprisingly decent) boot soon gets eaten up by the PC-sized charger inverter you need to plug it in. But that’s not really the point – this is a car that stretches and moulds the imagination – we can’t help but applaud VW for putting the XL1 into production.

# data.attributes.field_cars_verdict_for
Super-cool looks, non-existent tax, potential economy, general brilliance

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It’s like the Jetson’s finally got a daily driver. A brilliant, boundary-pushing eco-hypercar.

# data.attributes.field_cars_what_is_it.value
Volkswagen’s pet high-mpg project that aims for less than one-litre of fuel consumption per 100km travelled. The XL1 achieves it, with a potential for more than 300mpg. It’s a bit like a tame spaceship: wing doors, offset two-person cabin, tiny TV screens instead of rear-view mirrors, mid-mounted 800cc two-cylinder diesel (basically half a 1.6-litre TDI), mated to a 5.5kWh lithium-ion battery and 25bhp electric motor sitting above the driven rear wheels. It’s more than a little bizarre-looking with those faired-in rear wheels, and is actually pretty tiny – the same size as a supermini, except much lower. The exotic continues under the skin, too - pretty much everything is CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic), the wheels are magnesium, other bits aluminium. The tyres are still rubber, though.

# data.attributes.field_cars_what_is_it.processed
Volkswagen’s pet high-mpg project that aims for less than one-litre of fuel consumption per 100km travelled. The XL1 achieves it, with a potential for more than 300mpg. It’s a bit like a tame spaceship: wing doors, offset two-person cabin, tiny TV screens instead of rear-view mirrors, mid-mounted 800cc two-cylinder diesel (basically half a 1.6-litre TDI), mated to a 5.5kWh lithium-ion battery and 25bhp electric motor sitting above the driven rear wheels. It’s more than a little bizarre-looking with those faired-in rear wheels, and is actually pretty tiny – the same size as a supermini, except much lower. The exotic continues under the skin, too - pretty much everything is CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic), the wheels are magnesium, other bits aluminium. The tyres are still rubber, though.

# data.attributes.field_cars_what_we_say
The world's first green hypercar is brilliant. The future, beamed into your local VW dealer

# data.attributes.field_cars_wildcard_text
A very small diesel and recently burned feet