Volkswagen has unveiled the Mission Efficiency, a prototype electric vehicle so aerodynamic and lightweight that it achieved the equivalent of roughly 323 miles per gallon under ideal conditions. Rather than simply promoting the concept with theoretical figures, as automakers often do, Volkswagen built and drove the car on a real 794-mile journey from Wolfsburg to Vienna, demonstrating efficiency gains that could eventually inform more practical production vehicles.

The prototype, built using the motor and battery from the ID. Polo, needed just one charge for the entire trip and arrived with 104 miles of range remaining, working out at about 279 MPGe — nearly double the efficiency of the Lucid Air Pure, currently the most efficient production car. Its teardrop-shaped Kammback design achieves a drag coefficient of just 0.158, but this comes with trade-offs: the sloped roofline limits rear seating to a child-sized 2+2 layout, the tyres sit tightly against the wheel arches, and there is no infotainment system, echoing an approach also used by Slate's EV pickup. Roof and boot-mounted solar cells add a modest 18 miles of range in optimal sunny conditions.