A concept that actually drove

Volkswagen unveiled a prototype EV rated at the equivalent of 323 miles per gallon in ideal conditions, then did the unusual thing and built it.

Wolfsburg to Vienna, one charge

The Mission Efficiency covered 794 miles from Wolfsburg to Vienna with a single charging stop, arriving with 104 miles left. That works out to about 279 MPGe in the real world.

Near production, not fantasy

The teardrop body runs the electric motor and battery from the ID. Polo, parts VW already makes. That is what earns it the "near production" label.

Twice as good as the best

Back-of-envelope math gets over 400 miles from a 54.9 kWh pack. Lucid's Air Pure needs 84 kWh for 420 miles, though it is a far bigger and more usable car.

The roof pays the bill

The roofline peaks over the driver's head and drops away fast, a Kammback shape. Drag coefficient lands at 0.158 with a frontal area of just 2.08 square meters.

Back seats for small people

That tapering roof makes it a 2+2. VW says the rear bench suits anyone under 5-foot-3, and pitches it as a car for a young family of four.

“The prototype was designed so that it could theoretically be used by a young family of four”

Tight wheels, rough ride

Wheels and tires cause a quarter to a third of aero drag, so designers squeezed the gap between arches and front tires. Less room for the shocks to work means bumps get through.

Mirrors stay, solar helps a little

Cameras would cut drag but lose depth perception, so real mirrors survived. Roof and trunk solar cells add only 18 miles, and only on flat sunny roads at a steady 42 mph.

A dashboard borrowed from Slate

No infotainment, no built-in speakers. Like Slate Auto's bare-bones pickup, you get a portable Bluetooth speaker and bring your own devices. VW built 250 XL1s last decade, so production is not impossible.