#182 - Equal time for foreign auto makers

I've taken some heat for criticizing American auto makers for their vapor cars that we'll never see in large enough quantities to make one damn bit of difference. Well, here is proof I am not entirely biased toward foreign automakers. It's clear that they too can be bought for a price.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Volkswagen
• L1
• concept
• car
• green
• vehicle

[poolerboy0077]

The Volkswagon L1 has a really smart feature where the cover up the rear wheels so that it's impossible to change a flat tire.

[ZeroFossilFuel]

Nice. "No user serviceable parts inside?" So what do you want for $600? :-P

[BungaEBiker]

Z do you want me to save you a seat on the boat to Europe? I'm getting the distinctive feeling that we are soon going to have to go there to get the vehicles and other goodies we want. I gave up on North American car manufacturers when they killed the Rav 4 ev and the EV1. Cheers

[ZeroFossilFuel]

Might have to. :-\

[Briefy09]

I watch a program about the american goverment and the germans scientists and them saying the badge isnt a v and w its two vs intrinde which stands for 66 something to do with the devil

[unheard128]

"Well, it seems that VW wasnt done talking about the L1 concept as they have recently let us know that they expect it to enter production right around the same time as the E-Up! (sometime around 2013) and that it will get 170MPG. This goes along with the previous statement that the L1 will travel 100 kilometers using just 1.38 liters of diesel fuel."

[unheard128]

The 3L was a test bed and that went into production so i see no reason it will not as long as it is priced so that it s viable for VW to sell, according to the reports form the Frankfurt motor show it is nearly production ready.

[svsguru2000]

the l1 is designed to be as save as a GT race car.

it is probably much safer than any SUV

[svsguru2000]

It's a prototype and mainly a test bed for new technology.

They are not planning to put it into full scale production even in Europe, let alone America.

[unheard128]

VW mexico may take it on as unlike the USA they have the bluemotion range

[unheard128]

as its not right or left hand drive being a single seat widths people will just import them. Its not that hard to order one jump on a train to Germany to pick it up from the factory and drive it back to the uk, You could drive a 3L back to the UK in a little less than a tank so a 1L would be nothing. The demand has to comes from the public in a serous way and i really cant see people in the USA changing their attitude towards everything over night. Its a cultural thing not just VW

[unheard128]

will be sold to the public, you would also need to loose weight, an ultra light car like the L1 is not going to achieve anywhere near what it should if it has a huge amount of weight in the form of a person. the seats will also not accommodate such huge people. Now i know not everyone is huge in the US but it could cause complications that an auto maker just does not want to contend with. I am still not sure if we will get the L1 in the UK but it will be a silly move if it is not taken on

[unheard128]

and i dont think there is much chance in coming out alive in a head on between a fiat 500 and Q7 size just wins over. Quite simply you would have to be insane to drive some of our small cars on your roads but the L1 forget it you would have to have a death wish to drive it among all the huge SUVs. Can you imagine the lawsuit if someone was killed in one of those things in a low speed crash. You need to transition away from the 'bigger is better' culture culture before anything like the L1

[unheard128]

The average car here is tiny in comparison to you average cars / SUVs many of your SUVs and trucks are bigger and hugely more heavy than many or our commercial vans. A 1L would probably be crushed instantly by an SUV hitting it despite the fact it is designed to be strong and safe. The safety areas will be designed the avarage over here, the audi Q7 is among the biggest cars we have over here, the fiat 500 is a 5 star in the euro NCAP but it is totally destroyed by a Q7 hitting it