Volkswagen is looking to make a production vehicle out of the 2011 Golf Twin Drive, a plug-in hybrid version of the Golf (Rabbit). There are 20 test vehicles on the road in Germany right now.
The hybrid engine is a 1.4L turbo direct injection four cylinder diesel engine mated to an electric motor, but the production vehicle will most likely have one less cylinder and be a gasoline engine.
The electric motor is powered by a Lithium-ion battery pack from Sanyo. The battery pack, located in the trunk, weighs 350 lbs. The battery pack is recharged through regenerative brakes and by plugging in. It has a full charge of 12 kWh, but is limited to 8 kWh. Since it's located in the trunk space, there's no spare tire.
Although the engineers at Volkswagen call the Twin Drive plug-in a range extended electric vehicle, it's unlike the Chevy Volt. The car will run on electric power up to 30 miles and up to 30 mph. And when traveling in reverse, the car is electric only. But at higher speeds, the gas engine kicks in. The gas motor has the equivalent of a single gear set to the top gear in a gas-only vehicle.
And so, the gas engine is 'clutched' to the wheels, which the Volt is not. In the Volt, the two motors are set in series, with only the electric motor capable of moving the vehicle. The gas engine is used to recharge the battery pack when it becomes sufficiently depleted. But you can turn the gas motor off at the touch of a button.
At higher speeds and during acceleration boosts, the electric motor will assist the gas engine.
This is the fun part. The system controller, which decides what mode the car should be powered at (electric or gas or both) is linked into the NAV system. And the decision making is smart. Since plugging in is the most efficient (cheapest) way of recharging the battery pack, it will try to ensure the battery is fully depleted when you reach your destination.
Source: 2011 VW Golf TwinDrive - Volkswagen's Chevy Volt Fighter Goes 30 Miles on Battery Power - Auto News - Motor Trend
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
2011 Volkswagen Twin Drive Plug-In Hybrid Golf
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Follow me on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments posted on Hybrid Car Review will be moderated. Please avoid dropping links just for the sake of links. The comment will be deleted shortly after. Keep comments on topic and non-abusive. Thanks!