Volkswagen

The Volkswagen XL1 is a next-generation vehicle focused on one thing: hitting the one-liter per 100 kilometer fuel efficiency bogey (hence its name). That ultra-low level of energy usage translates to 235 miles per gallon, but since VW says the two-seater burns even less than a liter per 100 km, ...

Here's the thing: it takes a lot of practice to drive like a true hypermiler. The 2013 VW Passat TDI Clean Diesel with a manual transmission, for example, has an EPA estimated 31 city/43 highway mile per gallon rating. Hypermiler Wayne Gerdes thinks the car is good for at least 68 mpg. Gerdes, ...

You've got to love this brave new world we're in, where getting 120 miles per gallon can be considered a disappointment. That's the upshot of an Automobile magazine test drive of the Volkswagen XL1 plug-in hybrid diesel, which the German automaker has said can get as much as 261 miles per gallon, ...

If you think it's hard to find a plug for your electric vehicle, be glad you don't need to look for a Twitter friend every time you want to drive. But that's the restriction that a group of at-risk high school students built into their electric Kharmann Ghia as they attempt to drive from Kansas ...

BMW and Volkswagen are taking differing political tacks to address stricter European emissions standards that will kick in by the end of the decade, but the two German automakers appear to be moving in lockstep when it comes to not reporting accurate CO2 emissions numbers. Bimmer and VW's Audi ...

When we drove the Volkswagen XL1, the incredibly efficient plug-in diesel hybrid pod that gets something like 261 miles per gallon, we learned that Volkswagen is only going to make 250 of them. We later heard it was unlikely to come to the US, which isn't all that surprising. What VW hasn't been ...

The most recent companywide sustainability report from Volkswagen comes in at a tidy 168 pages. Here's hoping not too many folks took out trees by printing the whole thing out. Europe's biggest automaker said it has reduced the amount of both energy and water required to make each vehicle by 10 ...

We're not expecting the next whaling-ship ramming Greenpeace boat to have a VW logo on it, but it's nice that the two entities are finally getting together in the name of lower emissions. Volkswagen and Greenpeace leaders recently agreed that Europe's largest automaker would pledge to cut its ...

While the limited-production Volkswagen XL1 diesel-hybrid coupe is earmarked for Europe, a small number of the super-light vehicles may find their way to this side of the pond, Plug In Cars says, citing an interview with Volkswagen of America CEO Jonathan Browning. As many as 20 of the projected ...

Another German automaker has rejected the air conditioning refrigerant that's scheduled to be adopted by global automakers in 2017. Earlier this month, Volkswagen lined up with Daimler and BMW to support Daimler's findings from last year that the new refrigerant, called HFO-1234yf, can become ...

Some kids from the Show Me State are certainly showing us how it's done with this converted, all-electric Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. In this case, a group of at-risk teens converted one of the classic VW compacts to all-electric power. It was unveiled at the Kansas City International Autoshow last ...

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will play a big role in the moves the Volkswagen Group is making towards increased e-mobility starting in 2014. Oliver Schmidt, general manager engineering and environmental office for Volkswagen Group of America, speaking at the recent SAE 2013 Hybrid & ...

The head of Europe's biggest carmaker says the prospects for hydrogen vehicles are vanishing into thin air. Yes, when recently asked about fuel-cell technology, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said it's nearly impossible to build those vehicles at a "reasonable cost." As Automotive News ...

Excited as always, the new E-Up! from Volkswagen is making its debut today at the Annual Press and Investors Conference in VW's home town of Wolfsburg, Germany. But wait, you're saying, we first saw the E-Up! at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, so what's this "debut" that VW is talking ...

Good news travels fast, and in the case of Volkswagen and its the Golf plug-in hybrid, a little faster than we thought. Europe's biggest automaker, which was previously thought to be debuting the Golf PHEV in 2015, is apparently bumping that timetable up to next year, UK's Autocar reports. The ...

In December 2011, the Volkswagen plant near Chattanooga, TN was certified LEED Platinum. That's a difficult level to reach – as we described at the time – but the one billion dollars the company spent there fit snugly into the VW corporate storyline: we're going to make cleaner cars ...

Europe's largest automaker continues to talk big when it comes to launching and expanding its plug-in vehicle offerings in both Europe and the US. Volkswagen this week outlined its goal to become "the leader in electrification" starting with the debut of the e-up! city electric-vehicle in Europe ...

Volkswagen is two-pronging its approach to alt-fuel vehicles by expanding its stable of plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) starting in 2014 while continuing to boost its push for more sales of its clean-diesel vehicles. Europe's largest automaker is adding PHEV versions of the Porsche ...

Germany's largest automakers are renewing their pitch for their clean-diesel vehicles in the US as a way for consumers to combat high gas prices without having to resort to the (often) even pricier hybrid and plug-in hybrid options. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler, Porsche and ...

If you won't change the car, perhaps you can change the fuel. This is part of the alt-energy strategy that Volkswagen is employing as it works on electric vehicles. To wit, its project with Solazyme to make renewable diesel and also the Eco Up! vehicle. VW is launching the compressed natural ...