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VW's Mission Efficiency Prototype Is Basically an XL1 for the Electric Age

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VW's Mission Efficiency Prototype Is Basically an XL1 for the Electric Age

This radical-looking, range-stretching car packs an ID.Polo’s powertrain and has a back seat too.

A little over a decade ago, Volkswagen launched the teardrop-shaped XL1 diesel-hybrid, an ultra-efficient hypermiler capable of returning 100 kms of range for 1 liter of fuel (around 250 mpg). Not just a concept, VW actually built and sold a couple hundred of these rolling science projects, albeit at about the same price as a Porsche 911. Then, for fun, the automaker stuffed a 197-hp Ducati engine in it, because why not?

Financially speaking, things have not been very optimistic at Volkswagen as of late, but that hasn't stopped its engineers from digging up the R&D dollars to do a little tinkering. The latest project, dubbed the VW Mission Efficiency, is basically an XL1 for the electric age, taking the underpinnings of the recently revealed ID. Polo and wrapping them in a super-aerodynamic body.

We probably won't get the ID. Polo on this side of the Atlantic any time soon, and it’s also not likely that the Mission Efficiency will be available at your local showroom—or any showroom. However, as a proof of concept, it delivered in the real world, showing just how much range can be eked out of a smallish battery pack when every possible optimization is made.

The ID. Polo looks like a mini-Golf and gets a 55-kWh battery paired with a 133-hp electric motor, plenty for both urban and highway commuting. 6 miles for every kWh of charge expended.



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