Although it has a distinctly futuristic look, I almost get the impression that it’s a “look into the future” that we may have had a couple decades ago. The rear tires are covered up for improved aerodynamics, not unlike what we saw with the first generation Honda Insight. Other features include the gullwing doors and LED headlights. You’ll also notice that there are no side mirrors. That’s because they’ve been replaced by a camera-based system.

It is just a two-seater, so don’t expect to shuttle your kid’s soccer team around in this, but the plug-in hybrid system on the Volkswagen XL1 can go 50 kilometres on electric power alone. If you start dipping into the gas, then you’ll go about 100 kilometres for every liter of fuel. Beyond the aerodynamics, the XL1 is also feather light at 1752 pounds, which is about half of a typical American midsize sedan.

Yes, I realize the “XL1″ name is a little misleading, because this Vee-Dub isn’t exactly extra large, but this could be a very real view into the future of commuting. No word on pricing yet, but Volkswagen is saying that they’ll go into commercial production of this vehicle. Hopefully we’ll learn more when it’s shown off in Geneva next month.

[Source]

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How would you like to own a personal mobility transporter from Volkswagen that hovers a few feet above the ground? Sounds really exciting, right? Say hello to the new Hover Car design, one of three top concepts from the company’s crowd-sourced “People’s Car Project” (PCP).

Volkswagen started the project in China nearly a year ago and so far has inspired 119,000 unique ideas for possible products and technologies. Luca de Meo, Director of Marketing, Volkswagen Group, says, “The ‘People’s Car Project’ in China marks the beginning of a new era in automobile design. We are no longer just building cars for, but also with customers and at the same time initiating a national dialog which gives us a deep insight into the design preferences, needs and requirements of Chinese customers“.

Among the three ideas that were selected, the Hover Car is the most exciting maybe because it brings back memories of Marty McFly’s hoverboard. According to Volkswagen, the Hover Car is an all-electric two-seat city car that can hover above the ground and utilizes electromagnetic roadways to move around. So it’s eco-friendly as well, and the car also features distance sensors to prevent collisions with other vehicles.

The second concept is the Music Car which has exterior OLED lights for creating light shows in tune to the music played inside. But that design most likely will never be applied to cars anytime in the future. The third concept, Smart Key, is that of a vehicle key equipped with a touchscreen that will display information about the car, such as fuel level, climate conditions and security.

After seeing the strong response to the project, Volkswagen is saying that the program will be sponsored indefinitely. They might extend it into other markets as well. But although they are interested in a few ideas from the PCP, the company will always have the ultimate say about which all models enter production.

As de Meo said, “In a long-term context, the findings of the ‘People‘s Car Project’ will influence Volkswagen’s product strategy. The design of our models will, however, continue to reflect the tradition of the Volkswagen brand. If at some time in the future we are to produce a vehicle from the ‘People’s Car Project’, it will be a combination of customers’ opinions and brand tradition“.

The following video is in Chinese, but you can take a closer look at the Hover Car.

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You have probably seen self-driving cars in sci-fi films, well, soon you are going to be able to own one, provided you are living in Nevada. The state has become the first in the US to approve the rules governing the operating of driverless cars on the state’s roadways.

The rules will be governing test vehicles as well as the robot cars that will be launched on the market later on. The difference between the vehicles will be in the license plates: red for test vehicles and green for the approved ones.

According to Bruce Breslow, director of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, “Nevada is the first state to embrace what is surely the future of automobiles. These regulations establish requirements companies must meet to test their vehicles on Nevada’s public roadways as well as requirements for residents to legally operate them in the future“.

The new development will definitely be good news for Google. It’s a boon for the search giant’s autonomous vehicle program which was unveiled back in 2010. According to the company, their test vehicles, which come equipped with various sensors including radar, laser sensors, cameras and GPS, have travelled more than 160,000 miles without an accident (Though there was an incident, but Google found the human driver in the car culpable). But as in all the other fields, Google will have competition as Audi, BMW and Volkswagen announced that they are developing robot cars.

As for everyone from all the other states, a similar approval is expected sometime in the future. And just in case you are wondering, they won’t allow you to get drunk while your robot car does the driving for you, although talking on the phone and texting are allowed.

Photo: Total Recall’s “Johnny Cab”

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Finding fuel-efficient cars in Europe is nothing out of the ordinary. Many of them are very efficient diesels, for instance, but the diesel market in North America for smaller vehicles isn’t as established. However, the Jetta TDI will soon have some competition in the form of a diesel-powered Chevy Cruze.

This has been officially confirmed by GM CEO Dan Akerson. The car itself isn’t huge news, but the diesel Cruze will be the first diesel car out of Detroit since the 1980s. That’s a very long time. If you’re willing to accept something a little bigger, the last passenger vehicle diesel was a 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD.

Part of the concern for passenger diesels in the past was noise, but Akerson is saying that these new diesels are quiet and that they are able to make it in the low to mid-40s for fuel economy. By comparison, the diesel Jetta with an automatic transmission gets about 30mpg in the city and 42 on the highway. The gas-powered Cruze Eco gets 39mpg on the highway. It’s an issue of the chicken and the egg, but finding diesel pumps can cause some trouble for folks. Though as Detroit puts out more of these types of cars, that’ll likely change. Expect the diesel Cruze to hit American streets in 2013.

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While Big’s idea did not progress much beyond plans, Volkswagen is testing a self-driving system that lets you travel up to 80 mph. The temporary auto-pilot technology uses adaptive cruise control, lane assist and a variety of sensors to track your speed, location and all the cars around you. The system observes overtaking rules, speed limits, and can even start and stop during traffic jams all on its own. Volkswagen emphasized that the driver is always in control, and must monitor the car. So no naps or drinking, people. Volkswagen designed the system with “production ready” components so an actual test model may very well arrive in the next few years.

Audi is is also set to test a “driverless” TTS Coupé quattro on the infamous Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the USA.

Currently in the testing phase, the Autonomous Audi TTS quattro is being developed for several still-to-be determined real-world driving challenges in 2010, including a possible drive up the legendary 12.42-mile Pikes Peak Hill Climb route in Colorado USA. This will not be a competition run, however, and is separate from the actual Hill Climb Championships being staged next June.

BMW previewed a left turn assistant system in Germany in May 2011. The system combined camera, laser and vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies in an effort to make left turns safer. The system utilized three laser scanners in the front end of the car, which mapped the area up to 100 meters ahead. If the system detected oncoming vehicles, and the driver continued to move into the intersection, the system would sound a warning and automatically hit the brakes. Essentially, the car would be acting for you, with the hopes that it could prevent a collision. While driverless technology sounds a little reckless, one doesn’t have to spend much time on the road to see that most people drive hazardously, with no regard for fellow motorists. Will this be another instance where robots make humans obsolete?

Meanwhile, Google is working on their own driverless car, and after pressure from the corporation, Nevada has passed a law authorizing the Department of Transportation to develop rules and regulations governing the use of driverless cars. Watch out, a driverless car might be coming to a road near you.

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There are few cars in the world that are quite as iconic as the Volkswagen Beetle and “another chapter” is about to be written with that round thing from Germany. Never mind its historic roots with Hitler or how it served as the beginnings of Porsche; the Beetle is going to be new again.

At least that’s what the people in Wolfsburg are trying to tell us. They’re planning a nearly simultaneous world debut of the next-generation Beetle on three international stages on April 18. The car will be showcased at a world premiere in Shanghai, but they’re also hosting events in Berlin and New York around the same time.

This is all in partnership with MTV, including live streaming on the web and highlights on international MTV channels later on. You know, because VW is cool. The New York part has the Black Eye Peas, the Berlin part has 2manydjs, and Shanghai has… the car.

I guess VW’s vision of the future is for Snooki to cruise up in a Beetle, jamming to Rebecca Black on the fifth weekday.

[Read]

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Nearly a decade after the Volkswagen set out to achieve the 1L/100km car capable of mass production, they’ve done it. The XL1, with a body inspired by the aerodynamic qualities of the dolphin, is on display at Qatar’s auto show.

The plug-in hybrid’s 2009 predecessor, the L1, was unveiled in 2009 with tandem seating and an efficiency of only 1.38L/100km, but this was still a step away from Volkswagen’s goal of a production car and came out to 65 mpg short. These issues have been resolved with the XL1. Every non-aerodynamic feature of a car has been removed: It has no rearview mirrors, but instead cameras that relay information to a pair of screens on the dashboard. The real wheels have been capped and surrounded by side-spoilers in front and behind to lessen drag. The radiator grill has been removed, with air intake achieved through monitored pumps.

The regular steel body has taken one from Formula 1, bringing the weight down to 1753 lbs by replacing steel sheet with carbon fiber reinforced polymer. Thanks to “advanced resin transfer moulding,” a patented new production system that’s led to significant cost reductions, limited runs of the vehicle are viable.

The vehicle’s plug-in hybrid system consists of one two-cylinder TDI engine (35 kW/48 PS) and an E-motor (20 kW/27 PS), with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DSG) and lithium ion battery. The hybrid engine is housed between the seats and the 100-litre trunk overtop of the back axel, resulting in direct rear-wheel drive. Volkswagen say the transition between the electric and TDI engines is very smooth thanks to the dual clutch and pulse starting.

The car is capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in just 11.9 seconds thanks to 120 Nm of torque using the TDI engine and the E-motor as a booster, with an electronically limited top speed of 160 (100 mph). Though these aren’t breakneck sports car specs, they’re absolutely more than adequate.

Add to this the sleek style and forward-angled wing doors and slit LED head- and taillights, and the XL1 is as sexy as it is potent.

The Volkswagen XL1 is on display at the Qatar Motor Show from January 26 to 29, but you might have to wait a fair bit to get your hands on one. When Volkswagen unveiled the L1 in 2009 they announced the car would be in production by 2013, but with this update, that could easily change.

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Hybrid? Pfft. Who needs a hybrid when a regular TDI Volkswagen can go over 1,500 miles between fill-ups? That’s exactly what the testing revealed on a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion sedan. On the outside, it looks like any other regular Passat, but it does happen to be a diesel.

In fact, it’s powered by the same 1.6-liter TDI engine that many of us already know for having great fuel economy. Then again, we didn’t realize that it was going to be this good. Based on the test, they were able to record a production car world record of 1,531 miles on a single 20-gallon tank of gas.

To put that in perspective, it means that you can effectively drive all the way from Seattle to Phoenix without ever visiting a gas station. To achieve this kind of economy, driver Gavin Conway drove an average of 45mph for nearly 34 hours. That works out to 74.9 miles per gallon US.

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