Volkswagen has been showing off what is claimed to be the most fuel efficient four-seater car in the world. The Up! Lite concept is just part of Volkswagen’s new small car line up and was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Volkswagen has concentrated on building an extremely light vehicle with slippery aerodynamics driven by a combination of diesel power and electricity.

When driving at lower speeds the Up! Lite is powered solely by a 10kW electric motor which is capable of producing 13.4bhp. When a bit more power is needed then an 800cc turbo two-cylinder diesel powered engine kicks in. Both engine and motor will propel the Up! Lite from 0-60 within around 12 seconds and the car is capable of top speeds of around 100mph.

The new Volkswagen may not be a supercar but its fuel efficiency makes up for this. It will go 116mpg and over that driving cycle will only produce 65g of CO2 for every km.

The Up! Lite is able to achieve such an astonishing mileage because it is so lacking in weight. Made out of carbon fibre, aluminium and lightweight steel the Up! Lite weighs in at just 695kg. Added to this lack of weight Volkswagen’s engineers have made sure that it literally glides through the air. The car has an overall drag coefficient of just 0.237. The Up! Lite’s body also features wheel-trims which slip through the air as well as an air-dam covering the engine grill which will remain closed when the engine does not need cooling therefore reducing drag even further.

The new Volkswagen Small Family series which it says incorporates many of the features seen on the Up! Lite is due to roll out in 2011.