VW Up! Lite Concept revealed in LA

The Volkswagen Up! Lite has been revealed at the LA Motor Show

Volkswagen has revealed the Up! Lite Concept at the LA Motor Show, offering 96mpg from its diesel electric powertrain.

Volkswagen had promised a surprise at the LA Motor Show, and this is it, the VW Up! Lite Concept, another car in the quest by VW to produce the most efficient cars on the market. And the Up! Lite really does deliver in spades in terms of weight and economy.

The VW Up! Lite weighs in at a measly 1530 pounds, which really doesn’t seem heavy enough to be called a car. The huge weight savings over normal cars are achieved with liberal use of carbon fibre, lightweight steel and aluminium. Even the wheels are made of carbon fibre and aluminium and the roof is pure carbon fibre. And although we can’t see it saving weight, all the mirrors – door and rear-veiw – are actually cameras instead of mirrors.

The 800cc diesel engine produces 50bhp and is couple to an electric motor good for a further 14bhp. The combined power is driven through a 7-speed DSG dual-clutch ‘box and surprisingly can hustle the Up! Lite to 60mph in around 12 seconds. Astonishingly, VW are claiming 96mpg for a car that can hustle along as well as most city cars and carry four people – and up to 30 cubic feet of luggage with the seats folded. It will reach 100mph and its 4.4 gallon tank is good for 500 miles.

On the styling front there are similarities with the rest of the VW range, but the lines of the Up! Lite are cleaner and less cluttered. The tail is stubbier than most VW products but as a design for an ultra-economical city car it has a lot going for it.

Volkswagen reckons the first of the VW Up! cars will start to turn up in 2011. This Up! Lite seems the most convincing case so far. It would be a good place to start.