Unveiled: 2014 VW XL1

British_Rover said:
I know that I work on cars still occasionally and I see most of the big new models right as they come out with the dealergroup that I am in. What I mean is apply all of these aero tricks to a vehicle made of more conventional materials. Not just a couple of them or halfassed versions of them.
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I actually like the Aptera, the third one. It's absurd looking. I appreciate that.
 

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British_Rover said:
I know that I work on cars still occasionally and I see most of the big new models right as they come out with the dealergroup that I am in. What I mean is apply all of these aero tricks to a vehicle made of more conventional materials. Not just a couple of them or halfassed versions of them.
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Especially the rear of the VW very much reminds me of this:
Citroen_SM_in_Stockholm_rear.jpg
 
I also thought of Citro?n, those as so ugly they're pretty though, this isn't ugly enough so it's just ugly.

I would never be comfortable driving on tyres that narrow either, those combined with an aerodynamic shape that doesn't have as much drag must make for interesting emergency stops.
 
Sorry, but "limited numbers because its expensive" is not a valid argument. Tesla keeps building and selling fucking expensive electrical cars and they are effectively only backed by like a bunch of rich people, and not by worlds second biggest carmaker.
 
VW is a volume maker. They need to make money, and a car branded VW can't cost too much. Hence they can make a loss on 50 cars, but not on a series car.
 
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Still all bullshit. It is a VW-logo-car and it will cost something nearing 100k. They also are builing the Veyron just for the lulz and that think is eating money per second. And VW is making enough money.. in fact last year again was good enough to pay every single of their 100000 employees here a mere 7100EUR bonus, just for the fun of it. I understand your reasons and arguments, I just don't think they are valid in VWs case.
 
jack_christie said:
The power train will appear in the Up but it will only do about 250mpg!
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/scoop/vw-hybrid-use-xl1-tech
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That is a good idea but what about the inverse. I super aero car with a regularish ICE drivetrain. The UP is not every aerodynamic.

Aston Martin said:
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What the hell is that I want it.

thomas said:
Sorry, but "limited numbers because its expensive" is not a valid argument. Tesla keeps building and selling fucking expensive electrical cars and they are effectively only backed by like a bunch of rich people, and not by worlds second biggest carmaker.
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Isn't VW the most profitable automaker as well? They can afford to make more then a limited run and lose 50,000 to 100,000 per car.

AiR said:
VW is a volume maker. They need to make money, and a car branded VW can't cost too much. Hence they can make a loss on 50 cars, but not on a series car.
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They are making gobs of money on almost everything else. Make enough that you can run essentially a large beta test of the car. I don't think 50 is enough.
 
Aston Martin said:
A stupid hypermiler, claiming 40 billion MPG... probably.
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Probably but built right that would be kind of cool. What was that thing a Civic DX hatch circa 1990?
 
thomas said:
Sorry, but "limited numbers because its expensive" is not a valid argument. Tesla keeps building and selling fucking expensive electrical cars and they are effectively only backed by like a bunch of rich people, and not by worlds second biggest carmaker.
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And yet they also build systems for Toyota and Daimler....
 
thomas said:
Sorry, but "limited numbers because its expensive" is not a valid argument. Tesla keeps building and selling fucking expensive electrical cars and they are effectively only backed by like a bunch of rich people, and not by worlds second biggest carmaker.
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I don't think it's a case of "VW can't afford to make more than 250" but rather "only 250 people will spend 100 000? (or however much it costs) on an engineering exercise that, unlike a 918 or Veyron, doesn't offer high performance".

EDIT: changed the numbers from 50 to 250 as per the article jack_christie posted below. It also brings up the special exemption VW had to get for replacing the side mirrors with cameras, which may have restricted the production numbers, as well.
 
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I know that is most likely the reason. But that is also the problem why it is pointless in the first place. I mean seriolusly, its a car that competes pricewise with the Teslas and other expensive cars of that kind, but offers much less of a car in the first place. I don't really see reasons to buy it.
 
thomas said:
I know that is most likely the reason. But that is also the problem why it is pointless in the first place. I mean seriolusly, its a car that competes pricewise with the Teslas and other expensive cars of that kind, but offers much less of a car in the first place. I don't really see reasons to buy it.
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There isn't a practical reason to buy it, but VW needs to build them in (somewhat) volume numbers to test the manufacturing of all its different components (in other words, the car itself is no longer a prototype at this stage, but the robots and assembly lines that build the car are). And if they're going to make them, anyway, they might as well sell them instead of just leaving them to take up valuable space in a warehouse somewhere. Someone will buy it, if only for the novelty or because they're a car collector, and VW gets some feedback on how the car holds up in the real world.
 
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