First sight: Volkswagen’s Mission Efficiency streamliner is more practical than it looks

From the 1-litre car to the XL1, Wolfsburg has a long history of creating extraordinary-looking machines in pursuit of extraordinary efficiency. With the Mission Efficiency, Volkswagen wanted to demonstrate how far the forthcoming ID. Polo’s architecture could be pushed without sacrificing the things that make a car useful. The result is a fully fledged 2+2 with more than 1,200 litres of luggage capacity with the rear seats folded, yet a claimed drag coefficient of just 0.158.

Car Design News encountered the car at the Loh Collection during the Car Design Classic event, where its low-slung, streamliner proportions made an intriguing contrast with the historic machinery surrounding it. CDN spoke with Volkswagen’s head of exterior design for Europe Stefan Wallburg to find out more.

Car Design News: When I first saw the car, I thought of the XL1. How does this relate to that? Is this part two of the same idea, or something completely fresh?

Stefan Wallburg: For sure it’s related, because it’s part of our history. We’ve had record cars like the 1-litre car, the 3-litre car, the XL1 and so on. But we also wanted to show how much potential there is in the ID. Polo platform. That’s why we created a car with a different form, but which still retains a huge amount of everyday usability. It’s a 2+2-seater, there’s a lot of luggage volume and it has a huge driving range.

CDN: It has this striking streamliner form and, of course, the covered rear wheels.

SW: The cover over the rear wheel was an interesting feature for us because we wanted to create a car that also looks stable. Stability is one of our main values. There are a lot of technical things behind the design. You can also see the solar panels on the roof, which generate energy to help extend the range and supply the internal electrical system.

We tried to make the wheelarch look quite conventional so that it doesn’t appear strange. But if you look at its inner contour, it completely follows what we call the “wheel potato”

It was also a challenge because this isn’t a conventional automotive design and doesn’t conform to the things you normally expect from a car. That gave us the opportunity to go in a more extreme direction.

We decided to use design influences that don’t necessarily come from the automotive world. It was inspired by aircraft, for example. That generates this sharp line and teardrop effect, with a shadow element underneath so the bodyside becomes dark. The XL1 was perhaps more like a piece of product design. This is a more elegant approach.

CDN: And with the shadow and light effect, you’re visually breaking down the mass of the car.

SW: Exactly. When you see the car outside, you have the sky reflected down to this line and then the street below it. It makes the car look about half a metre flatter.

The car itself is also 10cm lower than the ID. Polo. We dropped the roof to reduce the frontal area. The surface approaching the wind directly is not much more than that of a motorcycle.

CDN: Tell me about the wheel design and what you were trying to achieve aerodynamically.

SW: The wheelarches are really important. When you look at the wheelarches from a distance, you see the main outline, while you don’t really recognise the inner section.

CDN: Again, you’re playing with shadow and light.

SW: Exactly. We tried to make the wheelarch look quite conventional so that it doesn’t appear strange. But if you look at its inner contour, it completely follows what we call the “wheel potato”. It’s the surface – almost like a bubble – created by the wheel as it moves through its suspension travel and steering angles.

We brought the edge of the wheelarch directly onto this “wheel potato”, which is why the inner contour looks unusual, then created a more conventional wheelarch contour around it.

We always kept production in mind as a possibility. It wasn’t the original idea behind the car. It was more about seeing how far we could go with the Polo platform

Then we have a large radius here, a little like the rear spoiler of a Porsche 917. The front edge is sharp and we have this wheel-gap reducer (shown below), while here we have a really rounded radius that increases towards the bottom. That allows the air to flow more effectively around the outside.

The wheel design itself is also inspired by our history. If you look at the XL1 and L1 cars, they also have this kind of five-spoke propeller design.

The inner detail looks three-dimensional, but it isn’t – it’s actually covered. As designers, of course, we also want the wheels to look big, so we visually extended the wheel design into the tyre with this additional outer ring.

CDN: Before we move to the rear, there’s something interesting about the mirrors too.

SW: One of our targets was not to use technologies on the car that are extremely expensive. The XL1, for instance, used rear-view cameras. We said, no, we want an easy solution that also means we can eliminate the monitors inside.

So we use a conventional mirror and reduce its drag as much as possible by integrating it into the form. I think it costs us only four counts of drag, which is really very little for a mirror. Everything is intended to be an easy, functional solution.

CDN: Is that because you have half an eye on possible production?

SW: We always kept production in mind as a possibility. It wasn’t the original idea behind the car. It was more about seeing how far we could go.

CDN: You’ve also taken electrical elements out of the doors?

SW: Yes, so that we can maximise the recyclability of the material. And we integrated this kind of wing here, which connects to the feet of the mirrors. When you sit inside, you have this connection running from mirror to mirror, almost like an aircraft wing.

CDN: Another aeronautical reference.

SW: And it’s really interesting how the indirect light works here, particularly in daylight when light from the front comes through it.

The dashboard looks really light and white, as do the seats. This feature, with the edge running around it, is the same idea as on the exterior. It’s really simple and easy to understand.

You enter a car, or look at a car or another product, and you shouldn’t need to read an explanation of what it’s all about. You should immediately understand how to use it. That makes you feel comfortable and secure with the product.

CDN: Moving to the rear, this is probably the most interesting part of the exterior for me in terms of the surfacing. Talk me through it.

SW: First of all, you can see the airflow through the shape of the car – how it flows smoothly into this area and creates this muscle in combination with these softer panels.

With the covering of the rear wheel, we also thought about how we could make it look really attractive. When you see it from a distance, it looks a little like a Porsche 917. There’s also storage behind it for certain things you want to carry. Underneath the rocker we have movable elements that come down to reduce drag around the tyres.

This is a 2+2-seater with a lot of usability, and I think that makes the car quite attractive. You can fit a Kinderwagen, a beer crate...

Then here we have something inspired by fluids and perhaps by animals. These lines simulate laminar flow along the bodyside. They run across the whole car and eventually reach their conclusion in the diffuser.

At the rear we also wanted to integrate a strong identification element. Obviously there is the badge, but it’s integrated with this light bar, which extends further around the sides to emphasise the width of the car.

CDN: Despite all of this, there’s still a surprising amount of space inside.

SW: And when you look inside, you have more space than in a Golf. The luggage compartment is huge. With the seats folded, you have more than 1,200 litres.

CDN: That’s the wild thing about it. You look at it and think, “That’s a dramatic concept car,” but it’s actually usable.

SW: And that’s a big difference compared with the XL1. This is a 2+2-seater with a lot of usability, and I think that makes the car quite attractive. You can fit a Kinderwagen, a beer crate...

CDN: …golf clubs. What about the front light signature? Volkswagens need to look approachable, but this is also a very dynamic car.

SW: That’s why we have these eyes here. If you look at the headlamp module, it’s designed like an eye, with some lines suggesting the iris. The element itself is under glass – again, like the wheels, to reduce drag – but it also extends inwards like a wing.

Then on the bonnet we have this shark-nose effect. The light signature is more horizontally orientated than on the Polo, while this part is shaped more like a V to create more of a teardrop effect. And we have these “eyebrows” to give it a more concentrated focus.

Then there’s the illuminated badge. Connecting the eyes with the illuminated badge through this wing element is one of the major elements we use as a brand to make the car immediately recognisable as a Volkswagen worldwide.