Volkswagen plug-in hybrids by 2014
Diversifying its drivetrain offering, VW will deliver plug-in hybrid vehicles on its upcoming Golf VII platform by 2014Volkswagen has announced plans to enter the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) market in 2013. Chairman Martin Winterkorn announced at last week's International Vienna Motor Symposium that the company will release a range of 'important' plug-in hybrid models starting in 2013/14.
"Electric mobility is the task of the century for the automotive industry and the European industrial community as a whole. Manufacturers, suppliers, energy providers, scientists and politicians -- everyone must step up to the plate here," he told the symposium.
Reports from the UK suggest the technology will appear in the seventh generation Golf and the third-generation Audi A3, both of which sit on the group's new upcoming front-drive MQB platform.
"Over the mid-term, the plug-in hybrid offers great potential, because it combines the best of two worlds in one vehicle," Winterkorn said in a statement. "The plug-in hybrid offers precisely what many customers expect: unlimited internal combustion engine performance combined with attractive electric mobility ranges in everyday driving."
With increasing diversification from country to country across the globe, the company is also ramping up production of drivetrains specific to individual national markets.
It used the Symposium to unveil two new engines to go into its cars in the near future. The first is an E85-ready version of its 118 kW 1.4-litre 'twincharged' TSI engine, scheduled for release in Passat models in Sweden and Finland, where E85 is well established and readily available.
A Passat sedan running the new TSI on E85 through a seven-speed DSG transmission in testing yielded 8.8L/100km and 144g/km CO2. The latter amounts to a seven per cent emissions cut from the same powertrain burning petrol.
The second is a new US-specific 2.0-litre turbodiesel designed to meet that country's BIN5/ULEV emission requirements. Tweaked to reduce the engine's raw emissions and wearing an upgraded catalytic converter, the new TDI will be produced at the company's Chattanooga facility exclusively for the North American market.
The 103kW/320Nm VW Passat accelerates from 0-100km/h in about 9.5 seconds and on to an electronically governed top speed of 185km/h, using a combined cycle 6.7L/100 km.
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