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Friday, September 27, 2013

VW working on Ducati powered XL Sport Project

Volkswagen's Ferdinand Piëch really doesn't seem to 'get it'! The chairman of the supervisory board at Volkswagen Group revealed during a lecture at the Vienna University of Technology that VW are working on a racing version of the XL1 to be powered by a 1.2 Liter two cylinder Ducati 1199 Panigale R superbike engine.

Instead of ditching the XL1's 47 hp two-cylinder diesel engine and showcasing their recently launched EV strategy by installing a high performance 200 kw electric motor into the low drag carbon fiber XL1 chassis, something that might give a Tesla Roadster a runs for it's money, Piëch is attempting to reverse technical evolution and take a huge step backwards by off-loading the XL1's hybrid system entirely.

Not only does the 190 hp / 123 Nm Ducati motorcycle engine have less power and torque than a standard Tesla Roaster, and significantly less than a Roadster Sport (300 hp / 400 Nm) but the V-Twin's peak torque is at 9,000 rpm instead of full torque from zero rpm like the Tesla. While the XL Sport (795 kg) may have a weight advantage over a Roadster (1,235 kg), it'll still be significantly slower 0-100 km/h and will be about as technically advanced mechanically as a motorcycle engine powered Locost Britsh kit car, or even the Piontek Sportech kit car chassis the Tesla powertrain was originally developed in.

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