Volkswagen says its Mission Efficiency concept measured a drag coefficient of 0.158 and is calling it a world record. A student club at the University of New South Wales has been sitting at 0.095 since 2022, a number Volkswagen is not actually trying to beat with the same kind of car. Wolfsburg is proving a family hatchback can be genuinely efficient. UNSW's Sunswift team is proving a single-seat solar racer can cross a continent on a battery a third the size of a Tesla's. Different competitions, same instinct: when a manufacturer wants to make a point about efficiency, it reaches for a car nobody can order yet.
Mission Efficiency makes that point cleanly. It has no price and no confirmed future, and Volkswagen built it almost entirely from parts already sitting in a factory: the drivetrain, battery and platform all came from the production ID Polo. The aerodynamic work was layered on top of hardware Volkswagen already sells, and the team drove the result from Wolfsburg to Vienna on ordinary roads, hills included, at speeds over 130 km/h, and still beat a consumption target it had called ambitious when the project started. That is a harder thing to fake than a closed-track number, which is probably why Volkswagen is now debating whether to build a production version at all.
Kia's PV7 sits even further from a showroom. Autogefühl's walkthrough was of a prototype van with two battery sizes and 800 volt DC charging Kia says will take it from 10 to 80 percent in a little over 20 minutes, a figure that has not been tested independently and comes with no price attached. Hyundai Motor Group has offered 800 volt architecture since the Ioniq 5 launched in 2021, so the technology itself is not new. What is new is Kia fitting it to a van with room for eleven.
The two cars people can actually order this week tell the other half of the story. Skoda's Epiq starts at £24,950 and wins its class on boot space rather than range or power, an unglamorous way to compete that keeps selling cars while flashier rivals argue about horsepower. Volvo's ES90 is the harder case. carwow's testing found it braked and accelerated better than Volvo's own claims, on a platform that is clearly sound, and then watched a touchscreen undo some of that goodwill: mirror controls that lock out in reverse, a key fob that goes flat if you forget to charge it, a menu system the reviewer called glitchy. The hardware earned the number. The software spent some of it back.
What to watch: whether Volkswagen actually greenlights a Mission Efficiency successor, whether Kia's 20-minute charging claim survives contact with a production PV7, and whether Sunswift's road-legal successor launches on schedule next year. The efficiency numbers keep improving. The gap between a concept achieving them and a customer living with them has not.
Kia Shows a Nine-Seat EV Van With No Price Attached
Autogefühl got an early look at a prototype Kia PV7, the larger sibling to the already-revealed PV5, built for both passenger and cargo duty on a dedicated van platform. The passenger version seats up to nine, or eleven in Korean market spec, across rows that can be removed, slid, or reversed into a face-to-face layout. Kia is offering two battery sizes, roughly 71 kWh and 96 kWh, paired with 800 volt DC charging that Kia says will take the car from 10 to 80 percent in a little over 20 minutes. The main charging port sits at the front, with an optional second AC port at the rear matched to whichever front speed the buyer picks, 11 or 22 kW. The long-wheelbase version measures 5.35 metres, with a shorter compact version and a high-roof cargo variant also planned. Drive is front-wheel only for now, up to 200 kW, with all-wheel drive expected later, and both versions tow up to two tonnes. Inside, the passenger cabin gets up to a 14.6 inch touchscreen alongside physical dials for climate, plus heated and cooled seats in both rows. The cargo version keeps a similar dashboard but swaps in a three-seat front bench and a rear opening that takes three Euro pallets. Kia has not released pricing. Hyundai Motor Group has offered 800 volt architecture since the Ioniq 5 launched in 2021, so the charging speed is not new technology, just a new place to put it.
Volkswagen's Record Car Is an ID Polo Underneath
Volkswagen used its Mission Efficiency concept to chase a specific number: how little energy a close-to-production EV needs to cover real distance. The car reuses the drivetrain, battery and MEB Plus platform from the production ID Polo, with the gains coming almost entirely from aerodynamics, including a boat-like tapered rear and a variable front air intake that only opens when the battery or cabin needs cooling. Volkswagen says it measured a drag coefficient of 0.158 and is calling it a world record. Inside, the car drops built-in screens for what Volkswagen calls a bring-your-own-device approach, docking a phone or tablet instead. The team drove the car from Wolfsburg to Vienna on public roads, including hills and stretches above 130 km/h, and recorded 7.51 kWh per 100 km including charging losses, or 6.89 kWh per 100 km on driving alone. Volkswagen says the project began with an internal target of 10 kWh per 100 km that the team considered bold at the time, and beat it. For context, most current production EVs use closer to double that figure per 100 km, which is part of why Volkswagen is treating this as a proof of concept rather than a routine test. No production decision has been made.
The Volvo ES90 Nails the Numbers, Fumbles the Software
carwow tested the entry-level, single-motor Volvo ES90 and found it quicker than Volvo's own claim: 5.9 seconds to 60 mph against a stated 6.6, from the 333 horsepower base version of a car that tops out at 680 horsepower on higher trims. Braking from 60 mph stopped the car in 35 metres, which the reviewer called decent. The design earned praise, including a set of rear lights that turn out not to be tail lights at all: the video says Volvo's press office confirmed they act as a welcome signature that lights up when the key approaches, not a running light. The interior fared less well. Nearly every control runs through the central touchscreen, and the reviewer flagged a specific problem: the system locks out mirror adjustment while the car is in reverse. The 90 kWh battery is rated for around 400 miles, and the reviewer's own math, converting Volvo's stated efficiency figure, puts real-world range closer to 350. Boot space is 400 litres, smaller than the 500-plus litres the video cites for an Audi A6, though the car still swallowed eight suitcases with the rear seats folded forward. Pricing runs from about £67,000 to close to £90,000 for the top trim. The verdict: shortlist it, but expect most buyers to be better served by Volvo's own EX60. Its starting price sits close to entry trims of petrol and hybrid rivals from BMW and Mercedes, so it has to win on running costs rather than sticker price alone.
Skoda's Cheapest EV Wins on Boot Space, Not Range
Electrifying drove the production Skoda Epiq, the brand's smallest EV, built on the same Volkswagen Group architecture as the ID Polo and Cupra Raval. Two battery options are offered: a 37 kWh LFP pack rated for 190 miles with a 135 horsepower motor, and a 52 kWh NMC pack rated for 272 miles with 211 horsepower, which the reviewer found could spin its front wheels under hard acceleration. Both charge at up to 90 kW or 105 kW DC depending on battery size, with a 10 to 80 percent time of around 25 minutes. The standout number is boot space: 475 litres, which the video says beats both the VW ID Polo and the Renault 4 by roughly 34 litres, plus room for a small optional frunk not fitted to the test car. Materials inside lean into a distinctive soft, textured finish across the dash and doors that the reviewer liked more than she expected to. Pricing starts at £24,950 for the smaller battery and £27,700 for the larger one, spread across three trim levels, with the top trim adding bidirectional charging, a feature the video notes is not currently offered on the related VW or Cupra models. The reviewer's own preference still leans toward the ID Polo for character, but she calls the Epiq the more space-efficient buy for the money.
A Student Solar Car Still Beats Every Production EV on Drag
Electrify This visited UNSW's Sunswift Racing, a 30 year old student project that has held Guinness World Records for solar-powered vehicle speed since 2011, and more recently for covering 1,000 km on a single charge in under 12 hours, a record set in 2022 with Sunswift 7. That car runs a 38 kWh LFP battery, weighs 650 kg thanks to a carbon fibre structure, and posts a drag coefficient of 0.095, achieved partly through in-wheel rear motors and no air conditioning, since team principal Richard Hopkins says the energy draw isn't worth it. It cruises at roughly 85 km/h for maximum efficiency despite a 130 km/h top speed, and won the cruiser class at the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in 2023 after twelve previous attempts. The team's solar cells run at 25 to 26 percent efficiency, ahead of typical domestic rooftop panels, though Hopkins says gallium arsenide cells used in spacecraft reach the low 30s at roughly 100 times the cost. A successor, Sunswift 8, is in development as a road-legal tribrid combining solar, battery and hydrogen fuel cell power under Australian road rules, with 3mm solar glass laminated into the roof, boot and bonnet. Hopkins says it would be the first road-legal car built in Australia since Holden's last Commodore in 2017, a claim that checks out: Holden's Elizabeth plant built its final Commodore that October. Sunswift 8 is targeted for completion in March 2027 and a Goodwood Festival of Speed appearance that July.
Bottom line: If you want proof EVs keep improving in ways that matter, look at the two cars nobody can buy. Volkswagen reused parts already on sale and still beat its own ambitious efficiency target, and Sunswift has spent a decade beating production drag numbers on a battery a third the size of a Tesla's. The two cars actually on sale this week make the harder point. Skoda proves boring and cheap wins the boot space argument. Volvo proves that even sound hardware gets dragged down by a touchscreen that locks you out of your own mirrors.
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