Volkswagen Cross Coupe concept: plug-in AWD cross over

[Dave86]

25 miles all electric range
0 to 60 in 7 seconds
AWD
And 87 mpg in the European "driving cycle" - what ever that is.

Would be nice if it had greater all electric range. However, I have confidence that Volkswagen would do a nice job with the engineering.

See link below.

http://www.egmcartech.com/2011/11/29...in-hybrid-awd/

[tboult]

Too bads its just a concept.. looks decent and awd would be just what the wife ordered.

[Ziv]

25 miles is a bit short legged, and what is up with calling a 4 door a coupe?
On a final note, this just makes me think, "Hmmm... The added complexity of this design combined with VW's reputation for breakdowns?" Sarc

Oops.. tboult, I didn't mean to link my comment to yours in any way so I deleted the last part of my original comment.

[Jeff N]

And 87 mpg in the European "driving cycle" - what ever that is.

The Volt/Ampera gets 196 mpg. They are referring to NEDC which is the English acronym for the mileage and efficiency tests used in Europe (similar to EPA estimates here but completely separate methodology). The NEDC "combined and weighted" mpg estimate is very sensitive to battery range which is why the Volt scores so well. I saw someone claim that the Plugin Prius would get a NEDC estimate of around 134 but I don't know how accurate that is. In general, NEDC test cycles are easy and result in higher estimates than the EPA numbers. For example, the NEDC estimates battery range of the Volt is 51.6 miles but the EPA range is 35.

[Dave86]

Go to the following link and then click on "press release" to see what Volkswagen has to say about the "Cross Coupe"...

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/30/v...pt-tokyo-2011/

[Dave86]

The Volt/Ampera gets 196 mpg. They are referring to NEDC which is the English acronym for the mileage and efficiency tests used in Europe (similar to EPA estimates here but completely separate methodology). The NEDC "combined and weighted" mpg estimate is very sensitive to battery range which is why the Volt scores so well. I saw someone claim that the Plugin Prius would get a NEDC estimate of around 134 but I don't know how accurate that is. In general, NEDC test cycles are easy and result in higher estimates than the EPA numbers. For example, the NEDC estimates battery range of the Volt is 51.6 miles but the EPA range is 35.

Thanks for the description of "driving cycle"!

[Dave86]

Having read through the press release, what I like and don't like...

LIKE:
* small size - it will fit in my garage so that I don't have to defrost it in the mornings before driving
* the switch for 3 modes of operation (city, sport, & offroad). Like being able to choise between fuel economy (good road conditions) vs AWD
* high ground clearance

DON'T LIKE:
* The Volkswagen press release claims that it will travel 506 miles on 14.5 gallons in "hybrid mode". 506 / 14.5 = 35mpg, not as good as it could be.
* The tire size is 265/45-R20, and it doesn't appear there are a lot of good options for snow tires for that size. AWD + great snow tires (Nokian Hakkapeliitta) are a requirement for me as I do a lot of driving in the mountains during the winter.
* 25 mile range in electric only mode. Would love to see a 100 mile EREV.

It is very exciting to see that Volkswagen is looking at developing cars in this market segment.