Alternative Motoring: Volkswagen L1 Concept

SHOOT: As far as I'm concerned, the primary discussion shouldn't be around alternative energy, but alternative motoring. I initially believed that this meant we need to look in two areas primarily: 1) changing our living arrangements to suit a life with fewer cars and fewer trips [multi-disciplinary buildings, known as New Urbanism]. 2) investing in new, energy efficient vehicle technology.
I thought 2) meant, by definition, electric vehicles [EV]. Of course EV aren't as clean as they seem, they draw their power from [dirty] coal powered plants. Also, at a EV conference I attended in Stellenbosch earlier this year, the speaker decried how 'inefficient' and old the ICE has become [Internal Combustion Engine]. Thatsuggests that we can continue to run our engines on petroleum [for perhaps an additional decade or two or three] if we can produce...well...THIS sort of vehicle that Volkswagen has produced.

YAHOO: The L1 can reach 100 mph, but fuel economy at that speed drops to a shameful 1.38 liters per 100 kilometers, or 170 mpg.

clipped from autos.yahoo.com A one-liter car? This moniker describes a car that uses one liter of fuel—about a quarter of a gallon—to propel a car for 100 kilometers, or 62 miles. The one-liter car’s fuel economy translates to almost 240 mpg, and VW has had such a car in its sights for some time now. In 2002, outgoing VW CEO Ferdinand Piëch, now head of the company’s supervisory board, drove a cigar-shaped prototype from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg to a shareholders’ meeting in Hamburg. Now the idea of the one-liter car has been resurrected. VW’s biggest news at the Frankfurt auto show was the L1 concept, a prototype that "is close to production" and "will be developed," the company says. Three ingredients were needed to make it happen: a supremely efficient powertrain, great aerodynamics, and lightweight engineering. As to the powertrain, VW has opted for a two-cylinder, 39-hp turbo-diesel engine combined with a 14-hp electric motor. There is a stop/start system and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.