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"The most economical car in the world": Yes, from Volkswagen, but not at the Shanghai Auto Show
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Note: The high-mileage two-seat Volkswagen that’s the subject of an email bouncing around the internet is neither a production car, nor will it ever be nor will it be featured at this or any future Shanghai auto show.
It was and is a one-off demonstration vehicle called the Volkswagen 1-liter, not as it might see after its displacement but rather its fuel consumption using the European system of measuring liters per one hundred kilometers. For the record, in miles per gallon, the number is 235 American. A more realistic goal set for VW Polo-sized cars has been three liters per 100 kilometers, or 78 mpg,
In fact, a 3-liter car was introduced in 1999 and put into serial production. The VW 1-liter was developed as a showcase for a stockholders meeting in 2002. According to a company press release, “The principal point was to show how state-of-the-art technology can be used to reduce fuel consumption and still come up with a safe, usable and roadworthy vehicle.”The result of a three-year project by VW’s R&D team was a car that was legal for highway use yet achieved that magic 1-liter number, not just on an antiseptic test track but on a on-road run between Wolfsburg and Hamburg. Admittedly it was at night when the traffic is light but it still recorded that 1-liter/100k.
Of course—and obviously from the result—the VW 1-liter car is no ordinary vehicle, optimized for aerodynamics, both and shape and overall frontal area. In fact, the car is only 1.25 meters (50 inches) wide and not much taller, with a jet fighter-like canopy and overall teardrop shape. The drag coefficient is a remarkable 0.159, numerically half of better cars on the road today but in effect much slipperier aerodynamically.
The Volkswagen 1-liter car also had the most advanced construction processes and materials available at the time. Says Volkswagen, a “combination of a magnesium spaceframe and an outer skin of carbon fiber composite material. With a weight of altogether some 74 kilograms (163 lb), this version is 13 kilograms (28.6 lb.) lighter than a combination of aluminum spaceframe with carbon fiber outer skin.”The engine was a 1-cylinder direct-injection diesel of original design—not an adaptation of a current VW diesel engine—with dual overhead camshafts with roller rockers and two intake valves per cylinder and one for exhaust. The engine was aluminum monoblock, meaning there was no separate cylinder head, for a robust but lightweight engine. Other weight savings techniques included a magnesium fuel pump and the connecting rod made from particle-reinforced titanium.
At only 229 cc—or 0.3-liters—displacement, the little engine could produce 8.5 horsepower at 4000 rpm and 13.4 lb-ft of torque, enough for a top speed of just over 70 mph.The engine was placed behind the two-passengers-in-tandem cockpit. The 1-liter car had a lightweight six-speed transmission, and more fuel saving technology included auto stop-start and free-wheeling. In overrun mode, the engine shut off.
Volkswagen engineers designed in full safety equipment, including stability control. The 1-liter car had an electric heater and proximity key-type door—or canopy—lock.
With a 1.7 gallon fuel tank the Volkswagen 1-liter car has a range of almost 400 miles. Unfortunately, it has no trunk, so touring means either a passenger or a knapsack. We’d honestly be somewhat nervous about driving the Volkswagen 1-liter car in traffic. Safety features aside, the ultra-narrow, ultra-short profile would be all but invisible among even compact cars, much less hulking SUVs. Although the Volkswagen 1-liter car is designed and capable of everyday use, thank you very much, we’ll stick with something a little less thrifty. Not really that we have a choice anyway because this one-off vehicle won’t be coming to market any time soon, whether at the Shanghai Auto Show or anywhere else.
Illustrations: 2002 Volkswagen 1-liter demonstration car; photos courtesy Volkswagen of America.
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