Attention! Is this what the Volkswagen XL3 looks like?

The news broke only a few days ago: Volkswagen is working on a rival to the Toyota Prius, a hybrid that will join the German brand’s lineup and that, to be honest, will help clean up Volkswagen’s image after the disastrous dieselgate it suffered over the past year.

The model in question will be called Volkswagen XL3, as it is the third prototype seeking to reduce the environmental impact of its engines with this hybrid technology. Volkswagen has been preparing the way toward this type of hybrid propulsion for some time through the development of the MQB platform.

This platform can accommodate a combustion engine, a hybrid system and a fully electric system, although the XL3 could be based on a new platform, which would be named MEB. In this case, one could have a car with the proportions of a Golf and an interior worthy of a Passat, by eliminating elements used by traditional propulsion systems.

That said, this platform would be compatible with the previous one, so elements from it could be used. Along with the theory behind the model name, XL3, comes the idea that it could be a combination of a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine with the ability to deactivate cylinders when necessary to save even more fuel.

The electric motor could be 30 CV and will feature a battery designed so that the range in purely electric mode is not excessively large, although it would allow the consumption to be set at 3 litres per 100 km, which will go a long way toward rebuilding its image. And a first glimpse of the design can already be seen, according to what they tell us from England. Will this really be what the Volkswagen XL3 looks like?