I’m not going to link to the original far-left ranting site;
you can go to the Volkswagen site and download the brochure and press package
for yourself if you want to. One quick glance over the specifications will help
to dispel all of the ranting, although it may also disappoint the reader
(assuming I have readers). It turns out that the XL1 isn’t a magical supercar
that gets its power from the mad genius of Volkswagen engineers; it’s a one-cylinder
diesel-electric hybrid with an 8.4 horsepower engine and room for two people
and a bag of groceries. Two relatively small people, and a very light bag of
groceries, at least. The fuel economy is very impressive, although it’s closer
to 250 miles on a gallon of diesel than 300, but none of this changes the fact
that this vehicle is closer in size and concept to the old EV-1 electric car or
the Honda Insight hybrid, and I can’t use either one of them…
The payload data isn’t included in the download from the VW
site, but in the case of the Insight, its payload is so small that while it
would be able to transport me (assuming I could fit in the driver’s seat, which
I can’t) any theoretical companion travelling with me would have to weigh 80
pounds or less, or the car would not be able to move. And that assumes that
neither of us had a small bag of groceries – or a briefcase or purse – with us.
Clearly, there will be a limited market for such a vehicle in the U.S., where
we like our cars to be powerful and roomy – or at least able to leave the curb
when loaded. Even worse, at least from a consumer standpoint, the price given
for the production model is in the $150,000 range, or about twice what a Tesla
roadster (which is street legal in the U.S.) costs. In fact, it’s almost three
times what the much-maligned Chevrolet Volt or the beloved Toyota Prius cost…
As to why they aren’t available for import, Volkswagen is
only building 250 of these things, exclusively for sale in Europe, and has not
made them available for safety testing anywhere else. Given the limited supply
and high price point, it seems likely that the company is using this small
fleet as a proof of concept. That many units will provide enough data to
determine if the machinery is reliable, if the car is safe on the road, what
happens to the vehicle (and the passengers) in the event of a crash, and so on.
If the company can prove that the product is safe and reliable, they will
probably be able to bring it to North America – where it won’t sell, until and
unless they can bring the price down by a factor of at least four or five, and
double or triple the payload. For the moment the XL1 is basically a concept car
right out of an auto show, and conspiracy theories about this vehicle are completely
asinine…
If Volkswagen can overcome those technical problems,
however, it isn’t hard to imagine this “Super-Efficient Vehicle” (or SEV) doing
to all of the current American car companies exactly what its beetle-shaped
ancestor did to the industry in the last Century. If that happens I expect we
will be hearing about a lot of new conspiracy theories – and a lot of
unemployed auto workers. I’m not sure our domestic companies can survive
another fiasco on that scale…
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