Volkswagen has revealed a radical electric vehicle it says is the world’s most efficient EV — though motorists will not be able to purchase it.
Known as the Mission Efficiency, the futuristic prototype uses Volkswagen’s MEB+ architecture, the same platform beneath the recently reviewed ID.Polo.
The new electric supermini starts at £23,395 in the UK and manages a combined maximum of 5.4 miles per kWh. Yet the Mission Efficiency significantly improves on that figure, helped by its exceptionally slippery aerodynamic shape and an array of energy-saving systems.
By Volkswagen’s calculations, the concept is close to twice as efficient.
On a journey of almost 800 miles between Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg development headquarters and Vienna, the EV returned an average of 8.27 miles per kWh.
The company’s engineers said the result climbed to a remarkable 9.02 miles per kWh once charging losses were removed from the calculation.
Volkswagen also says the car can travel as far as 500 miles on a charge, despite relying on a comparatively compact battery pack designed to support rapid charging.
There is a major limitation for drivers looking for an exceptionally economical EV, however. Volkswagen has no plans to sell the Mission Efficiency, describing it instead as a technology demonstrator intended to show the “potential efficiency we can add to the latest generation of electric cars”.
Volkswagen says its Mission Efficiency prototype is the world’s most efficient electric car — but the groundbreaking EV will not go on sale.
The 794-mile run involved stretches of autobahn driving at up to 86mph, although the vehicle recorded an average speed of 42mph across the full route.
Volkswagen confirmed there was just one charging stop during the journey.
Based on its real-world consumption figures, the car achieved a range of 406 miles using the same 52kWh battery fitted to the flagship ID.Polo.
Engineers say that, under more favourable conditions and at lower average speeds, the vehicle could go for more than 500 miles on a full charge.
Power comes from the 114hp electric motor used in the entry-level ID.Polo. In the production car, this motor is paired exclusively with the smaller 37kWh battery and drives the front wheels.
The Mission Efficiency also uses the ID.Polo’s largest battery pack with 52kWh.
However, engineers unlocked an additional 2kWh of usable capacity by removing the safety buffer retained in the showroom model, increasing total usable energy to 54kWh.
During a near-800-mile journey from Volkswagen’s development centre in Wolfsburg to Vienna, the car achieved an average efficiency of 8.27 miles per kWh
The Mission Efficiency is VW’s ‘production-ready’ futuristic EV that’s built on the same MEB+ platform that underpins the new ID.Polo
Solar panels integrated into the roof and boot lid can add up to 18 miles of extra driving range per day, VW says
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The MEB+ platform, which will also underpin models including the Volkswagen ID.Cross, Cupra Raval and Skoda Epiq, has been heavily modified and reshaped into an almost teardrop profile.
The rear axle is around 17cm narrower than that of the standard platform, allowing for a longer, lower body that tapers dramatically towards the rear.
Solar panels integrated into the roof and boot lid provide a combined output of 370 watts, feeding additional energy into the battery.
Volkswagen claims they can add up to 18 miles of extra driving range per day during optimal summer conditions.
It’s no featherweight, though.
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Its larger dimensions and photovoltaic panels on the roof have it tipping the scale at 1.6 tonnes – around just 50kg heavier than the ID.Polo.
It also has seating for four (though we imagine the headroom in the back is limited at best) and a plush-looking cabin, though with some weight-saving features, including thin seats featuring cobweb-like headrests.
And it’s pretty practical, too, with a large 481-litre boot. There’s also side panniers enclosed into the bodywork with drawers for everyday items, including its charging cable.
There’s seating for four inside, though two rearmost seats look to only be suitable for small children. The thin chairs with cobweb-like headrests help to keep the weight low
Despite only being a concept, the Mission Efficiency is pretty practical. It has a massive 481-litre boot – that’s 100 litre more than a VW Golf
There are hidden paniers in the bodywork with drawers to keep everyday items – and the charging cable
The big talking point, though, is the exterior design.
With a compact frontal area with active cooling flaps, a completely flat underbody, patented aerodynamic wheel deflectors and partially enclosed rear wheels, the Mission Efficiency achieves a drag coefficient of just 0.158Cd.
Volkswagen says this is the lowest drag figure ever recorded for a vehicle that could realistically be mass-produced.
That comfortably beats the company’s similarly slipper-shaped XL1 diesel hypermiler, which had a drag coefficient of 0.199Cd.
Although the XL1 entered production in 2015, only 250 examples were built, each costing around £100,000.
The Mission Efficiency also surpasses the current production-car benchmark held by the Lucid Air, which has a drag coefficient of 0.197 and costs from just over $70,000 in the US.
Thomas Schäfer, Volkswagen’s chief executive, said the vehicle is ‘the ideal way to demonstrate what distinguishes Volkswagen in the electric age’ and proves the company remains focused on ‘technology for the masses, not just for the few’.
He added that the car has achieved three efficiency world records using ‘affordable production technology’ already deployed in the ID.Polo and upcoming ID.Cross.
‘This shows how much potential efficiency we can add to the latest generation of our electric cars.’
Power comes from the 114hp electric motor used in the entry-level ID.Polo. The 54kWh battery is the same as the range-topping pack in the ID.Polo but with 2kWh of energy unlocked
Volkswagen has even patented the aerodynamic wheel deflectors used by the Mission Efficiency, suggesting they could be used on a production model at a later date
Thomas Schäfer, Volkswagen CEO, said the concept is not for production but to ‘demonstrate what distinguishes Volkswagen in the electric age’
The Mission Efficiency has been unveiled less than a fortnight since the board of Volkswagen has agreed to cut a total of 100,000 jobs by 2030 as it struggles in its transition to EVs.
A sweeping restructuring programme over the next three years aims to counter a slower-than-expected shift to electric cars as well as the impact of tariffs and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals.
The German group, which includes Audi, Porsche, Skoda and the VW brand, said the overhaul would be ‘the most extensive transformation programme’ in its 89-year history.
The planned cuts include the 50,000 jobs already agreed, taking the total reduction to 100,000 positions by the end of the decade.
Volkswagen also outlined plans to halve its vehicle line-up by 2030, prioritising its ‘most compelling vehicles’ and increasing production volumes of each model to help lower costs.
The move could trigger up to four factory closures in Germany and may result in 76-year-old brand Seat being axed entirely.
‘A fundamental adjustment of the global workforce capability is necessary’ to preserve the company’s competitiveness, Volkswagen said.