Volkswagen’s crazy-efficient EV borrows an idea from Slate

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Volkswagen took the covers off a new prototype electric vehicle Monday, one that’s capable of hitting the equivalent of 323 miles per gallon under ideal conditions, making it one of the most efficient cars in the world.

It’s not unusual for automakers to float pie-in-the-sky concepts with outlandish stats, but Volkswagen took it a step or two further by building the EV and driving it from its home base in Wolfsburg, Germany, on a 794-mile (1,278-kilometer) trip to Vienna. The team charged the Mission Efficiency prototype once during the journey and arrived with 104 miles (168 kilometers) of range left, resulting in consumption of 7.51 kilowatt-hours per 100 miles, or about 279 MPGe.

The teardrop-shaped Mission Efficiency prototype was built using the electric motor and battery from the ID. Polo, two features that bring the car to “near production” status, Volkswagen said in a press release .

For those keeping score, the prototype is almost twice as efficient as the most efficient production car in the world, the Lucid Air Pure.

By some back-of-the-envelope math, Volkswagen’s science experiment can get more than 400 miles of range out of a 54.9-kilowatt-hour battery, though that’s not an official EPA rating. Lucid gets 420 miles from an 84-kilowatt-hour battery per EPA ratings, but it’s a much larger and more practical vehicle.