Volkswagen has built the slipperiest car on Earth, breaking records for aerodynamics and energy efficiency on a production approved vehicle with its Mission Efficiency and it could dramatically change the way our cars look soon.
Volkswagen celebrated its record breaking Mission Efficiency after a 1278km trip from Wolfsburg to Vienna that took them across Germany, Poland, Czechia and Austria from Wolfsburg to Vienna.
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What is Mission Efficiency and just how slippery is it?
Volkswagen has a history of pushing the limits of efficiency and its XL 1, which was built from 2014-2016, had a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.189 and has held the record ever since for a production car. Just to put that in context an official Olympic approved arrow has a Cd of between 1.5-2.0.
Now, the two-door, four-seater Mission Efficiency has broken the XL 1’s record with a Cd of 0.158.
That beats anything currently on the market. The most aerodynamic production vehicles you can actually buy include the Mercedes-Benz EQS with a Cd of about 2.0, Mercedes-Benz CLA Ev with 0.21Cd and the Porsche Taycan with a Cd of 0.22.
The Mission Efficiency's slipperiness is down to its tear-drop shape, small frontal area, clad rear wheels and a fully clad underbody. Door handles are integrated into the body and the windows are frameless to help the vehicle slide through the air.
Powering the Mission Efficiency is a single 99kW motor driving the front wheels - the same unit used in the new ID.Polo small hatch. What’s impressive is the battery size, it’s a 54.9kWh Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) unit.
Solar panels on the roof power on-board electronics.
What is the range of the Mission Efficiency?
The Mission Efficiency drove 1278km from Wolfsburg to Vienna, charging only once with 164.0km of range remaining on completion.
The impressive part about this is the efficiency. The real average energy consumption of the Mission Efficiency over this distance was 6.89kWh/100km.
In comparison the Mercedes-Benz EQS has an average energy consumption of 15.6kWh/100km.
What are the takeaways from the Mission Efficiency's accomplishment?
Volkswagen's Mission Efficiency is not intended to be mass-produced and sold, so the real accomplishment here is that this vehicle was able to achieve outstanding efficiency using all regular road approved equipment and technology.
Volkswagen’s CEO Thomas Schäfer said Mission Efficiency shows what the brand can do with current technology that can be incorporated easily into upcoming vehicles.
“Mission Efficiency is the ideal way to demonstrate what distinguishes Volkswagen in the electric age: technology for the masses – not just for the few.
“Rather than using specialist technology, the vehicle set its three world records using affordable production technology from the ID. Polo and ID. Cross, based on the MEB+ platform with front-wheel drive. This shows how much potential efficiency we can add to the latest generation of our electric cars.”
