Volkswagen has built an electric car that makes the usual “how big is the battery?” conversation feel almost irrelevant. As announced in an official blog post, the Mission Efficiency is a near-production 2+2 electric prototype that has set three world records, including the lowest drag coefficient for a road-approved car and remarkably low energy consumption.
The headline achievement came during a documented 1,278.36-km journey from Wolfsburg to Vienna, travelling through Poland and the Czech Republic. The car averaged 6.89 kWh/100 km excluding charging losses, or 7.51 kWh/100 km including them. Its 54.9-kWh battery was recharged just once, and it still had a claimed 164 km of range left when it arrived.
The Mission Efficiency’s biggest trick is not some enormous battery. It is aerodynamics. With a drag coefficient of just 0.158, Volkswagen says it has set a record for road-approved vehicles. In simpler terms, the car cuts through the air with very little resistance, meaning the motor doesn’t have to work as hard to keep it moving.
The prototype also managed 6.48 kWh/100 km during an “ideal” test at a constant 68 km/h, with no uphill sections and energy-hungry features such as air conditioning switched off. Its third record comes from combining that aerodynamic efficiency with an exceptionally efficient electric drivetrain, making it the most economical near-production EV in its class.
And this isn’t entirely exotic technology. The Mission Efficiency uses Volkswagen’s MEB+ platform and front-wheel-drive setup, along with the 99-kW (135-hp) electric motor and battery technology from the upcoming ID. Polo. It also gets a solar roof that can provide up to 30 km of additional range per day, a covered underbody, aerodynamic wheel deflectors, active cooling flaps, and other tricks designed to keep air flowing cleanly around the car.
The Mission Efficiency isn’t headed for production, and that’s probably the point. Volkswagen is using it as a technology showcase to explore how better aerodynamics, lighter components and more efficient motors can squeeze more range from smaller batteries, rather than simply making batteries bigger, heavier and more expensive. Those lessons could eventually make their way into future MEB+ models such as the ID. Polo and ID. Crozz.
There is also a little VW XL1 spirit here. Like that famously efficient experiment, Mission Efficiency is less about selling this exact car and more about proving what Volkswagen can do. The real win will be if its clever efficiency tricks eventually make regular EVs lighter, cheaper, and capable of going farther without hauling around a gigantic battery.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.