Volkswagen Unveils The All New Super Hybrid XL1 Sports Car

The Volkswagen's XL1 has been formally unveiled and introduced in Geneva. When the 1,700-lb, carbon-fiber-bodied two-seater hits the road, its claimed 261 miles per gallon will make it the world's most-fuel-efficient production car. Though "production car" might be a stretch since VW said in a press release that the XL1 would be built using "handcrafting-like production methods." We translate that to mean you won't be seeing many of these cars on the road.  The XL1 has a 47-horsepower, two-cylinder diesel engine and a 27hp electric motor. With numbers like that, owners can expect 0-62 mph times of 12.7 seconds and top speed near 100 mph.

The Volkswagen XL1 will be expensive (roughly $145,000 US, if reports are to be believed) but that doesn't mean buyers aren't interested in the sleek, hyper-efficient machine. InAutoNews reports that more people are telling VW they want to buy the 261-mpg car than VW plans to make.

We asked VW's Carsten Krebs about the situation, and he said there has been no decision regarding increasing production beyond the 250 VW is panning to build. VW has no comment on how it will deal with too-high demand, but Krebs told AutoblogGreen, "We are figuring out the best process, because we have huge interest in potential XL1 buyers." As far as we can tell, the company has three options if it doesn't want to hand-make enough cars: first come, first served, offering the cars to whoever will pay the most or make it a random lottery. We wonder where the people who won't get their mitts on an XL1 will spend their money instead. Any ideas?

The diesel-electric plug-in hybrid XL1 uses less than a liter of fuel to go 100 kilometers (burning one liter would equal 235 mpg). The plans call for the limited run of 250 to be finished by the spring of 2014.

See photos of the sleek car from the unveiling event below: