The Volkswagen XL1 is more important than you might think

I CAN only conclude David Cameron’s vow to get tough on all those City bankers is finally having an effect.

Why else would Volkswagen launch a car which – as far as I can tell – is designed specifically with them in mind? The rising stars of RBS, HBOS and Lloyds have long had a fascination with flashy German metal, as evidenced by all those Porsche 944 Turbos the Gordon Gekko generation drove in the 1980s and all the Audi R8s which have been lining London’s shinier streets these last few years.

However, all those efforts to get tough on bankers’ bonuses must be having an effect because the latest bit of German exotica to hit Britain’s roads uses a combination of an 800cc diesel engine and an electric motor rather than a whopping great V10. It’s also considerably smaller than a Ford Fiesta, won’t do 100mph and will be comprehensively outdragged at the lights by a diesel Skoda Fabia.

Yet the Volkswagen XL1 costs £98,515, making it more expensive than the BMW M5, the Porsche 911, the Maserati Granturismo and the Jaguar F-type. In essence, it’s a small city car you’d need to be on a Fred Goodwin-esque salary to even contemplate affording – and I still love it.

The XL1, aside from having a wonderfully sci-fi moniker which renders it cool in an instant, is significant because it opens up a whole new front in the long-running war of the supercars. Put simply, it does for MPG what the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron did for MPH. I’m aware of the irony of blowing the best part of a hundred grand on a car which takes saving money at the pumps to the extreme, but it somehow ekes 282 miles out a gallon. Try doing that in your Ecoboost Focus.


Doing 282mpg would – at the current going rate for diesel - get you from The Champion’s front door to Land’s End for a little over £8, and in a mad miniature two-seater which looks a bit like a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing crossed with something out of The Jetsons. Somehow, I think pursuing the edges of what’s possible with fuel economy has got to be more relevant than the battle to be the first out with a production car that does more than 300mph. In the same way the Jaguar XK120 eventually gave us everyday hatchbacks that could crack 120mph, maybe one day we’ll all be driving cars that do upwards of 200 to a gallon.

The first time I see some City stockbroker type driving an XL1 won’t be a moment of utter contempt. It’ll be quiet respect for someone test-piloting the future.

Nissan LEAF now easier than ever to own

NISSAN is aiming to make ownership of its electric cars a little less shocking with a series of new incentives.

Anyone looking to buy its zero-emissions LEAF hatchback can now recharge their car for free at any of its dealerships, borrow a petrol or diesel car for up to a fortnight if they need one, and get free a European breakdown and recovery package if they get into trouble.

Jim Wright,  Nissan Motor GB's managing director, said: "By making firm promises across five key areas we are tackling head on some of the questions we hear from potential customers when considering electric cars for the first time. These commitments deliver unprecedented levels of support to customers and make the LEAF a practical, desirable and affordable reality for many more motorists.

"The pledge to offer LEAF owners a free diesel or petrol Nissan for up to 14 days a year is particularly revolutionary. It means LEAF drivers can enjoy the many benefits of LEAF ownership, such as running costs of just two pence per mile, on their normal daily commute and then, when they’re going on holiday or have a longer trip to make, borrow a car that’s more appropriate to their journey."

The scheme, called the Nissan CARE-EV Leaf Customer Commitment Scheme, is aimed at helping eco-conscious motorists overcome the uncertainties they face when buying an electric car for the first time.

Nissan has sold the LEAF here since 2011, and earlier this year started building the zero-emissions hatchback at its UK plant in Sunderland.

 

The offer is available at all 205 of Nissan’s dealerships across the UK.

The easy way to work out what you're getting for your gallon

THE pensioners in their mollycuddled Nissan Micras powered past me as I puffed uselessly up the incline. My 40-year-old car, despite looking a bit sporty, doesn't really do hills.

It didn't really help that I was a bit nervous this time last Sunday. You'll probably already know that I've got an old MG and I've been on all sorts of adventures with it, but in the two year it's spent under my wing it's not once ventured beyond the fields of West Lancashire. Mainly because I wasn't entirely convinced it'd go much further.

But there's a first time for everything and as I gingerly ventured onto the M6 and pointed that never-ending bonnet northwards I was keen to find out not just whether my MG BGT could make it to places outside Lancashire without conking out on the hard shoulder. I also wanted to answer - and stay with me on this one - the all important question of fuel economy.

If you've ever wanted to work out what your car actually does to the gallon - and it's worth doing, because most of the manufacturers' figures are a tad optimistic - there's an easy way of doing it. Simply brim your tank until the fuel pump clicks, drive it around for 100 miles or so, and brim it again. Even though you've got to faff about converting the amount from litres into UK gallons you can fairly easy, and accurately, work out whether your car's as frugal as it should be.

I've done it with each and every one of my motors - in fact, I did with the MX-5 the other week, which despite being driven with a particularly weighty right foot around the windy roads of Wales still returned 34mpg. The best I've managed so far was with my old Renault 5, which despite having been to the moon and back mileage-wise still knocked up a respectable 43 to the gallon. Your car, if you're sensible and drive a diesel hatch like everyone else, should do at least 50 on a good run.

So what about the MG, which uses two enormous carburettors to shovel high-octane petrol into an engine designed in the Fifties and made largely from pig iron? Well, on a 150 mile run on motorways, country lanes and the A6 through rural Lancashire it managed 25.3mpg. Pretty poor compared to a new car, I'll admit, but not bad for an older model I'm still smitten with.

What's more, my car did an entire journey to somewhere far away, and back again, and didn't break down! A summer of adventures await...