Volkswagen To Hybridize Their Whole Line
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 09.24.07
Even without a single hybrid vehicle (and due to a number of diesel fueled options), Volkswagen has consistently been near the top of many fuel efficiency lists. So, just imagine what would happen if the company decided to take one of their models, such as the Jetta or Beetle, and put some battery-charged hybrid goodness in. Well, a few months after announcing that they plan to put a hybrid engine in some of their compact models, V-Dub is taking all this hybrid talk a step further. Now, every upcoming VW model is scheduled to have a hybrid option, with some models hybrid-ready as early as next year.
Although only some models will have the power of full hybridization behind them (with the others taking advantage of "partial hybrid" technology), Volkswagen does have plans to eventually even offer full-electric versions of its smaller cars. The company has not yet released which cars will get the full and partial hybrid treatment, nor which cars are being considered for full electric status. One thing is for sure, Volkswagen wants to make sure we still see their name near the top of every fuel efficiency list released.
:: Via AutoblogGreen
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It's about freakin' time. Hybridizing the VW bug seems like a no-duh, being the hippie symbol that it is, but when I wrote and called them a few years back (when I was a VW owner) about whether they planned to do that, they said they weren't intending to ever do that. I hope they go with a plug-in hybrid version. I will definitely consider a hybrid VW.
Ditto. In fact, I want a TDI bio-diesel ready plug-in hybrid New Beetle.
Tomorrow, if not sooner.
Sean, you always have my favorite posts! And you are from my 'hood! Thanks.....this is awesome.
Sorry for the otherwise silly posting, but
YYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
..its about time!
Should I start camping out in front of my local VW dealer now... or wait til....????
Cheers,
Tomtom
Plenty of people still drive orginal, functional VW Bugs, first generation Golfs and all sorts of other VW goodness. These things last(ed) forever. Newer VWs, in my experience and from hearsay, seem to have all sorts of problems with them, mostly due to electronics. Our Sharan held out just under half a decade, our Touran isn't even half as old and already it's spending more time being maintenanced than driven. It's not like we drive that much, or abuse the car. No, these are just average family cars driven by an average family.
So excuse me if I don't get excited about this, but VW and electricity just don't seem to get on very well.
I'll take a diesel hybrid please, any flavor.
Our (N. American) domestic auto industry gets caught flat-footed, yet again. So while they're busy suing the State of Vermont to try and prevent them from enacting tighter fuel economy standards, VW figures out how to exceed expectations.
Think maybe it's better to engineer progressive ideas, selling which will garner market share, rather than legislate loopholes that let you sell old tech cheaper? Or maybe market the ever-loving crap out of the dinosaurs you mistakenly bet on?
Amory Lovins says "And it is either going to change the managers’ minds or change the managers, whichever happens first." Time to start dumping stock until the boards of the Big Three change enough managers.
This is your chance VW... Here's my order for a biodiesel-hybird-solar roof/hood-plugin.
I could see myself going after an electric VW... by the time they come out I might afford one. Of course, I'd wait till my fiancé is ready to give up her Camry.
Back to the '70s when there were articles in Mother Earth News about making hybrid Bugs with small gas engines.
Someone used to sell conversion kits to allow you to bolt an electric motor in the place of the four-banger.
History doth repeat itself....
Awesome...if they produce a clean diesel hybrid plug-in Jetta...I'd be all over it! We've been putting off purchasing a vehicle because nothing like this has existed yet! Groovy to hear for sure.
Um, normal VW vehicles are among the worst for reliability. Would you really trust them with more complex technology?
"Our (N. American) domestic auto industry gets caught flat-footed, yet again."
Ford and GM have had hybrids for a few years and are continuing to expand their hybrid offerings and Chrysler soon to offer a hybrid. Neither German nor Korean manufacturers, however, have produced a single hybrid vehicle.
By the time the VW hybrids are available, they will be among the last of the larger manufacturers to offer hybrid technology.
Dito on not trusting any VW's since the over-electronication of cars.
Also, VW has been selling diesel electric hybrids in europe (100mpg) since 2001. (VW Lupo)
P.S. The Beetle is a terrible shape for a car. Minimum interior room for given weight.
Toyota and Honda have announced that by 2010 they will have specific lines of original hybrid vehicles. Its the only way for VW to compete now that it has been becoming a non-brand in the US due to several years of model stagnation (US models, anyway). Any company who doesn't have at least three vehicles that are Prius-like (not an existing vehicle with a hybrid option - they don't sell enough to be worth the effort for companies), will be left hanging once the above two are in full swing. VW is wise to jump on, but without a diesel-hybrid option, and no visible hybrid legacy, I'll pass them by...
Heard it from a VW fan - Volkswagen buys back more cars than it sells.......
james gray
VW has a history of EV's. It has been working with AC Propulsion (the original systems engineers for the EV1, the Tesla, the Lightspeed and others) for years to develop both EV's and hybrids. This is not a VW subsidiary, in fact it is a private company that leads the way in EV tech. When you watch the Discovery channel and see all the great electric cars that people have invented around the world you can bet that it has an AC Propulsion unit in it.
If you don't think it's true look for yourself: http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/all.htm
As for reliability VW's are not like Honda's and Toyota's that's true but they are much more comfortable, they are made of much better materials, and given a health dose of care will last as long as any car. The sad part is that we (in the US) don't get the good products that european consumers see. One hundred MPG city cars and vans, whatever happened to vans?
it's about freakin time is right. i need a new vw cabrio please make a new hybrid cabrio fyi my car lives to get maintenanced
i know every one how works at vw. but it is a vw
woop woop