All Sections

VW Up hybrid to be based on XL1 future car

Volkwagen is planning a hybrid version of its Up city car that may deliver an astonishing 250mpg, Autocar reports. The Up hybrid will make use of the same hyper-efficient powertrain found in the bonkers-looking VW XL1, which will enter production later this year.

Whereas the VW XL1 looks like something from the future, the VW Up hybrid will look much like its petrol cousins. Underneath the cutesey exterior it’s driven by some serious technology. At the heart of it all is a 0.8-litre two-cylinder engine mated to a 20kW (27bhp) electric motor, a 5.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 7-speed DSG gearbox.

In the XL1 this setup helps deliver 313mpg and an electric-only driving range of 50km. However, the Up’s heavier, less aerodynamically efficient frame will reduce these figures slightly. According to Autocar, fuel economy may come in at a ‘mere’ 250mpg and we expect its electric-only driving range will fall somewhere short of the XL1’s 50km per charge.

The hybrid Up will stack up well against its standard Up counterparts. The 1.0-litre, three-door Up BlueMotion model, for reference, returns 68.9mpg.

VW has yet to confirm whether the hybrid Up will be inspire equivalent versions from other VW-owned brands, there’s every chance of seeing a hybrid Skoda Citigo or hybrid Seat Mii crop up at some point in the not-too-distant future.

We’ll bring you more on the hybrid Up (and its cousins, if they ever arrive) as and when we get it.

Via: Autocar

 

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *