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When Piëch proposed a 1,001-hp, 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder Bugatti-badged supercar capable of 252 miles per hour, few took him seriously. A 235-mpg car appears equally impossible. But no one's laughing this time around. (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=120448?CFID=3654897&CFTOKEN=77809329)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2003_VW_1-Liter.jpgEdmunds Inside Line - April 16, 2007

VW intends to make an affordable small car that gets more than 200 mpg, using this 2002 prototype - 2-seater - 1-Liter as inspiration.

WOLFSBURG, Germany - The head of the Volkswagen Group's supervisory board, Ferdinand Piëch, used celebrations surrounding his 70th birthday over the weekend to point at the resurrection of plans for a new super-economical small Volkswagen.

In an interview with the Braunschweiger Zeitung newspaper, Piëch said the production of a car capable of traveling 100 kilometers on just one liter of fuel (the equivalent of 235 miles per U.S. gallon) is now achievable, citing advances in materials and general reductions in costs.

Piëch hinted that newly installed Volkswagen chairman Martin Winterkorn will likely make the car a reality, although he declined to provide any time frame for its introduction or price. The paper quotes Piëch as saying: "I have spoken with a manufacturer. He believes he can deliver components within two years for €5,000 rather than €35,000 [U.S. $6,775 rather than $47,400]. It then comes into the sort of territory where a normal customer can afford it. That was at my time [as chairman] not possible" … http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=120448?CFID=3654897&CFTOKEN=77809329

Gee, a 2-seater with outstanding MPG. I think Honda made one of those...

My point is, it's a marketable idea. Hopefully marketable in this country. Even if they have to knock it down to 100 or 150 mpg EPA to make it work here, it would still be good.

Interestingly, VW could turn it into a performance car by giving it about 2x the power and a true sports suspension. Given their connections with Audi and Porsche...

It's too bad that 2-seat vehicles have never made it big in the United States. The Insight was a neat, high-tech, affordable car but it just never sold well. I'd still like to see VW try their hands at hybrids.

I'll take mine in red, please. :D I wouldn't mind letting the Prius be my "big" car.

I am all for 200+ MPG but I am torn over the 2 seat vs. 4-5 seat dilemma...

When it came time to purchase a car this Winter I quickly decided I didn't want a hybrid because Toyota had already announced a PHEV version of the Prius for the 2009 or 2010 model year. I knew I wanted something small and with high FE, and in the end the only 2 vehicles I seriously looked at outside of Toyota's lineup were a used Civic CRX Si and a Smart Fortwo (the Forfour isn't available in the U.S. yet).

Having the ability to seat 4-5 people is a conundrum for me because I hardly ever need it - probably only 3-4 times per year. But when you need it you need it and our other car is a truck so this vehicle was simply going to have to seat more than 2.

That knocked the CRX and Fortwo right out of the running (I wasn't happy with the Fortwo's emissions, either... there's no excuse for an engine 33% smaller than the Yaris' to put out double the emissions).

In the end I went with a 2-door liftback Yaris because it's as small as I can get and still seat 5.

Maybe if there were a vehicle that could telescope from seating for 2 to seating for 5...

*queue the Transformers theme song*

I need a 3 seater for my daily routine. A 2 seater won't cut it until the kids are in college....10years from now.

I don't mind 2 seats. It would be an easy way for me to tell my coworkers that I can't provide transportation for lunch.

I need a 3 seater for my daily routine. A 2 seater won't cut it until the kids are in college....10years from now.

Here is the only 3-seater I know of:
http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/cars/f1.htm

In "Galleries" there is a photo of the seating arrangement.

They're verrry nice. I saw one at a local concours a few years ago. I'd love to see xcel hypermile one of these babies! Seriously, I'd like to know what amazing numbers he could pull from something like this.