Volkswagen Mission Efficiency: An ID. Polo Hatchback With Nearly 500 Miles of Range

This is Volkswagen’s ‘Mission Efficiency’. The name may not set pulses racing, yet at a time of electric motoring and cost-of-living pressures, the project itself is compelling: an ID. Polo-based hatchback with the potential for almost 805 km (500 miles) of range.

Volkswagen Mission Efficiency takes inspiration from the XL1

As its styling – including the wheel fairings – makes clear, it draws on the spirit of the excellent 2013 XL1. That tiny car could potentially return 300mpg – three hundred! – from its miniature two-cylinder diesel engine. This new model, meanwhile, can travel roughly 797 km (495 miles) on a charge, albeit under highly specific conditions.

Built on the front-wheel-drive MEB+ architecture shared with the new electric Polo and the ID. Cross (shrug emoji), the Mission Efficiency is significantly longer and lower than an ID. Polo. It has four seats, although the two at the rear are intended for occupants up to 1.60 m (5ft 3in) tall.

Production technology beneath the aerodynamic body

The important point is that it employs production-ready components already in service, including a 54.9kWh battery and a 133bhp electric motor. Volkswagen also uses the ID. Polo’s front suspension and hydraulic braking system, paired with an electromechanical brake at the rear.

Around this established hardware, Volkswagen has created a rolling teardrop shape, with a compact, low nose, extensive cooling-air flaps, enclosed rear wheels and a completely covered underside. Its frameless doors incorporate flush handles. As with the XL1, every aspect has been designed to help the Mission Efficiency slip through the air, and VW claims a drag coefficient of 0.158.

“The shape of the body itself is committed fully to functionality and thus the laws of aerodynamics," said VW design boss Andreas Mindt. "This has resulted in a state-of-the-art, efficient sports car in which the DNA of the legendary Volkswagen XL1 shines through.”

Range tests for the ID. Polo-based hatchback

Gliding is certainly the aim. In an ‘ideal’ efficiency run, conducted on level roads at a constant 68 km/h (42mph), with the air-conditioning and other power-draining systems switched off, VW achieved a remarkable 9.59mpkWh.

Volkswagen also completed a real-world drive from Wolfsburg to Vienna, travelling through Poland and the Czech Republic and stopping to charge only once. Over the 1,278 km (794-mile) route, the Mission Efficiency returned 8.27mpkWh; upon arrival, it still had approximately 161 km (100 miles) of range remaining.

VW calculates average consumption at 9.02mpkWh. Under ‘ideal’ conditions, that suggests this compact hatchback could theoretically approach 805 km (500 miles) of range. Real-life variables would inevitably reduce that figure, but it remains an extremely impressive technology demonstration.

“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,” said VW boss Thomas Schäfer.

“This shows how much potential efficiency we can add to the latest generation of our electric cars.”

Naturally, VW could do with some positive news – as we have documented here, the company is in something of a pickle.