Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Photo: Office of Sen. Alex Padilla

California Sen. Alex Padilla has seen the future of driving. It is autonomous, and coming to California.

The senator hopped into one of Google’s self-driving Toyota Prius hybrids on Wednesday for a robo-ride to the capital, where he announced legislation that would formally open California’s roads to autonomous vehicles.

Padilla wants the Golden State to follow the same trail blazed by Nevada, which earlier this month became the first to outline requirements for testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. Padilla believes California, with its thriving tech sector, is the perfect testbed for such technology.

“California is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in this field,” he said.

Google, which has racked up more than 200,000 miles with its fleet of autonomous Toyotas, and others argue self-driving cars will increase safety, ease congestion and generally make the stop-and-go slog less of a hassle.

“The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error,” Padilla said, repeating a common refrain heard from advocates of the technology. “Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating a vehicle more safely.”

California does not specifically bar autonomous vehicles from public roads, but neither does it regulate them. For that reason, Padilla’s legislation does not “legalize” autonomous vehicles, which already have been roaming California roads. Rather, SB 1298 directs the California Highway Patrol to adopt safety standards and performance requirements to ensure the safe operation and testing of such automobiles.

Several automakers are pursuing autonomous technology, and some of their work is being done in California. Volkswagen, for example, worked closely with Stanford University through the Volkswagen Electronic Research Lab to develop cars for the DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle races. And Audi worked with Stanford to develop Shelley, an autonomous TTS that scaled Pikes Peak.

Padilla’s legislation, introduced Friday, “seeks to avoid interrupting these activities while at the same time creating appropriate rules intended to ensure that the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles in the state are conducted in a safe manner.”

The big question, of course, is what defines an autonomous vehicle? Many cars feature semi-autonomous tech like adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and even self-parking and pedestrian avoidance tech.

None of that qualifies as autonomous tech under Padilla’s bill. The legislation specifically defines “autonomous vehicle” as “a motor vehicle that uses computers, sensors, and other technology and devices that enable the vehicle to safely operate without the active control and continuous monitoring of a human operator.”

That was exactly the experience Padilla said he had Wednesday in Google’s car.

“It was pretty amazing when Google’s vehicle went into self-driving mode,” he said. “The drive was smooth and safe. It worked flawlessly.”

Editor’s note: Jalopnik has started a petition urging the White House to require that automakers replace the “check engine” light with a display that tells you exactly what’s wrong. Here’s why.

By Jason Torchinsky, Jalopnik

It’s pretty easy to dismiss the “check engine” light as stupid, because it is. I suppose if you thought the smoke coming from under your hood had something to do with the floor mats, then, sure, the check engine light is handy. Beyond that, though, it is useless.

But that’s not the real problem. The real problem is that the check engine light is a tool for the propagation of consumer ignorance about their cars. That is why it needs to die. Now.

In the future, electric mail trucks will follow postal carriers like well-trained puppies.

Volkswagen, which already envisions a world where we drive super-sexy diesel hybrids that get 261 mpg, teamed up with Deutsche Post to reinvent the lowly mail truck.

What they’ve come up with is a boxy autonomous van with hub motors and, of course, an iPad dock because, well, every cool concept must have an iPad dock, right? Teasing aside, the goal was to create a small, maneuverable truck suited to urban environments.

“We also set out to design a very emotionally appealing commercial vehicle,” Dr. Jürgen Leohold, head of Volkswagen Group Research, said in a statement. To that end, VW’s engineers joined the University of Art at Braunschweig in looking “towards the future from the past.”

Not the distant past, mind you, because the eT! — Volkswagen’s concept car crew is enamored with exclamation points — looks a lot like the current-generation T5 transporter sold in Europe. Still, it’s much more handsome than the trucks the United States Postal Service is driving.

The coolest thing about the truck is the autonomous system VW envisions. Such technology would, VW says, “optimize the logistics of delivery.” VW goes on to say the vehicle “can follow the delivery person from house to house (“Follow me”), or the car can return to the delivery person on command (“Come to me”) – driverless!”

This being a “what if” concept, there are of course no specs or details. But there’s nothing about the truck that couldn’t be built, given Volkswagen’s promise to bring us the electric Golf and electric Up! in 2013. Even the autonomous system isn’t that outlandish, given that Audi built an autonomous TTS that scaled Pikes Peak and Google’s driverless cars are roaming California.

Still, don’t look for these bringing you your Zappos order anytime soon.

“Naturally, the eT! is not a vehicle which – unlike the Golf or up! with an electric motor – could become available very soon,” Rudolf Krebs, VW’s head of electric traction, said in a statement. “But we must make plans today for what the world of lightweight commercial vehicles might look like starting in the second half of this decade, including with regard to electrical drives.”

Photos: Volkswagen

Researchers at Volkswagen have joined the growing list of teams working on autonomous vehicles. Now, as part of a demonstration project, they’ve converted a Passat to drive with minimal driver supervision.

Volkswagen’s system is called Temporary Auto Pilot (TAP) and uses a series of cameras and sensors to control the vehicle at speeds upwards of 80 mph. The system combines and refines existing semi-autonomous features such as lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control into a single program that accelerates, brakes and steers. It differs from previous VW autonomous vehicles such as Stanley, famous for its role in the DARPA Challenge, in that it still requires driver supervision and made of mostly production-ready components.

“What we have achieved today is an important milestone on the path towards accident-free driving,” said Volkswagen Group research president Dr. Jürgen Leohold. When engaged, TAP signals the vehicle to maintain a speed consistent with traffic and speed limits, while steering within lane markers and braking as needed.

Though it’s an impressive achievement, we’ve never heard an automaker claim that an autonomous vehicle is ready to replace a human driver, and VW is no exception.

“Nonetheless, the driver always retains driving responsibility and is always in control,” Leohold said. “The driver can override or deactivate the system at any time and must continually monitor it.” In other words, don’t take a nap or make a phone call while the car is in motion, because any accident is your responsibility.

We’ve driven plenty of cars with active cruise control, and have been shocked to see how our minds immediately begin to engage in other tasks as soon as a computer takes over the safety-critical functions of driving. It’s human nature to stop paying attention to events that aren’t of immediate concern, so we’re curious how VW plans to keep drivers actively controlling their cars.

The whole project is part of the EU’s HAVEit (Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport) project, which first began in February 2008.

Photo: Volkswagen

Volkswagen says the 261-mpg diesel-electric XL1 concept could see limited — very limited — production within two years.

The Germans unveiled the super-efficient Volkswagen XL1 at the Qatar auto show today, showcasing some of its most forward-thinking technology with a promise to offer the car in small numbers.

“We want to go into series production with this car starting in 2013,” VW Chairman Ferdinand Piëch told Automotive News Europe.

VW boss Martin Winterkorn said the car will be offered in Germany first, then throughout Europe. The United States and China “will follow at a later date,” he said.

We’ve heard this before, of course.

The XL1 is the most practical and refined of the company’s 1-liter cars, so named because the goal was to develop a car capable of traveling 100 kilometers on a liter of fuel (roughly 235 mpg). It is the third iteration of a project launched in 2002.

It features a 48-horsepower two-cylinder diesel engine displacing just 800 cc. It’s bolted to a seven-speed DSG gearbox and mated to a 27-horsepower electric motor drawing power from a lithium-ion battery of undisclosed size. The plug-in hybrid has an electric range of 21 miles and fuel consumption of just 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, which comes to 261 mpg by our math. It emits 24 grams of CO2 per kilometer — compared to the 89 grams emitted by the Toyota Prius.

All that hardware is wrapped in carbon-fiber polymer bodywork attached to a carbon-fiber monocoque. Extensive use of aluminum, magnesium and other exotic materials keeps the weight to just 1,700 pounds.

When VW unveiled 1-liter cars in the past, it said the car could be built by 2012 or so. But cost has always been the limiting factor — these cars are chock-full of expensive technology and even more expensive materials.

But Piëch tells Automotive News that costs have come down significantly, making production feasible. For example, the carbon fiber body of the first-gen 1L car cost 35,000 euros (about $47,000). The body for the XL1 cost 5,000 euros (about $6,800). VW expects the lithium-ion battery to cost 250 to 300 euros ($410) by 2013.

That said, no one at VW would say what the XL1 will cost if and when it sees production. Ulrich Hackenberg, director of development for VW, said production could be limited to 100 vehicles to start.

It’s safe to say the car won’t be cheap, especially at volumes that low. But then this car almost certainly isn’t meant for the mass market. It will be a halo car, intended to show what is possible and showcase some of VW’s most advanced technologies and materials.

In that regard, it will be much like the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf (and the amazing Porsche 918 plug-in hybrid, if it’s built) — cars with a small initial market but the potential to influence many subsequent models.

For example, the XL1’s drivetrain is a natural for the VW Polo since the two vehicles are roughly the same size. And it isn’t hard to imagine the XL1’s carbon polymer bodywork being used on the Audi eTron electric vehicle, or the R8 for that matter.

Although Winterkorn said the XL1’s initial production run will be “small,” Piech said the cars definitely will be offered for sale and not limited to test fleets or demonstration programs.

Images: Volkswagen

The mad scientists at Volkswagen have wheeled out a bullet-shaped diesel-electric plug-in hybrid that gets a stunning 261 mpg. VW claims it is the most fuel-efficient hybrid ever, and it shows what’s possible when you let your engineers run wild.

It is with supreme irony that the Germans will unveil the XL1 concept car at the Qatar Motor Show this week. The car, the latest in the company’s ongoing experiments with ultra-efficient vehicles, was born of the simple question, “Just how much could the energy consumption of cars be reduced if all the stops were pulled out for efficiency?”

This is a question Volkswagen chairman Dr. Ferdinand Piëch posed to his engineers almost a decade ago, and one automakers around the world are grappling with as they face tightening fuel economy and emissions regulations.

Piëch challenged his team to build a car capable of going 100 kilometers on a single liter of fuel — the equivalent of 235 mpg. VW’s been at it ever since, turning out concepts with stellar fuel economy but less-than-stellar practicality. The XL1 is the latest project, the one you’d most likely want to live with and the one most likely to see production.

“When the new millennium was ushered in, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Piëch formulated the visionary goal of bringing to the market a production car that was practical for everyday use with a fuel consumption of 1.0 liter per 100 km,” the company said in a statement. “In the new XL1, Volkswagen is demonstrating that this goal is now within reach.”

The Volkswagen One-Liter concept got 235 mpg.

The XL1 is the most practical and refined of the so-called One-Liter cars. The first, the Volkswagen One-Liter Car, was a tandem two-seater that looked a bit like a Tylenol. It was a technological marvel when it appeared in 2002, with lots of carbon fiber, magnesium and other exotic materials. Power came from a tiny diesel engine good for 235 mpg. Efficient, yes, but completely impractical because it was absurdly expensive. Still, Piëch was confident the cost of the technology, and the exotic materials it featured, would tumble, and he suggested the car might see production by 2012.

The Volkswagen L1 Concept, being unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009.

Then came the Volkswagen L1 Concept, a definite step forward when it was unveiled in 2009. It was more refined, with a diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain. It was a little bigger than the One-Liter, with more power, superior performance and increased roominess. It wasn’t so futuristic, but still a bold redefinition of the term “car.” It was good for 1.38 l/100 km, which comes to 170.4 mpg. VW claimed the L1 emits just 36 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide. For the sake of comparison, the 2010 Toyota Prius emits 89 g/km.

And now we come to the XL1.

The coolest thing about this car is the drivetrain. The diesel-electric combo features a two-cylinder TDI engine with a displacement of just 0.8 liters. It’s essentially the company’s ubiquitous 1.6-liter engine cut in half, and it’s bolted to a seven-speed DSG gearbox. The engine is good for 48 horsepower and 88 pound-feet of torque.

The electric drivetrain sports a 20 kilowatt (27 horsepower) electric motor that draws power from a lithium-ion battery of undisclosed size. It’s a plug-in hybrid, and VW says the XL1 can go 35 kilometers (21 miles) in electricity alone.

This combination provides remarkable efficiency. Fuel economy is pegged at 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, which comes to 261 mpg by our math. Emissions are just 24 grams of CO2 per kilometer. More remarkably, VW says the 1,700-pound XL1 can cruise at 62 mph on just 8.4 horsepower. That’s about half what the Golf TDI requires. Under electric power, the car needs less than 0.1 kilowatt-hour to go one kilometer.

Stomp on it and the electric motor assists the diesel engine in accelerating, and VW says the XL1 will do zero to 60 in 11.9 seconds. Top speed is limited to 100 mph.

The XL1 differs from its siblings in that it offers side-by-side seating, a nod to increased practicality. It’s also got proper doors instead of jet-like canopy. It’s still made of high-tech stuff including carbon fiber polymer parts attached to a Formula 1-style carbon fiber monocoque. That’s expensive stuff, but VW says it’s making progress bringing costs down through a patented production process it calls advanced resin transfer molding.

All told the car weighs about what a first-gen Honda CR-X HF weighed. There’s a lot of aluminum under the carbon-fiber bodywork, including the suspension components, brake calipers, shocks and other components. Other tasty bits include carbon fiber anti-roll bars, ceramic brake rotors and magnesium wheels.

This is one super-slick car, with a drag coefficient of 0.186 and a frontal area of 1.5 square meters. That makes it more aerodynamic than the General Motors EV1 but not quite so slippery as the Aptera Motors 2e. The car is 12.7 feet long and 5.4 feet wide, roughly the size of a VW Polo. It’s just 3.7 feet tall — roughly the same as the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.

Volkswagen has long hinted we could see a car based on a One-Liter model in showrooms, and it said something based on the L1 Concept shown 2009 might be available in 2013. But it seems unlikely we’ll see anything resembling this car anytime soon given the exotic (and expensive) materials and outlandish styling (which, frankly, we love). It’s more likely that we’ll see some of the technology underpinning the XL1 in production models as VW, like everyone else, scrambles to increase the fuel efficiency of its lineup.

Plug-in diesel hybrid Polo, anyone?

Images: Volkswagen