Test series: Volkswagen builds a Golf with an electric drive

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Volkswagen builds a Golf with an electric drive

Test series: Volkswagen builds a Golf with an electric drive-test

Source: AP

The car company VW has presented a Golf with an electric drive in Berlin. From the year after next, 20 of the vehicles will collect experience and data for series production for two years. At the presentation, Volkswagen announced further hybrid models in almost all classes.

ZTogether with the German government, Volkswagen is launching a fleet trial to explore the possibilities of electrically powered vehicles. Energy suppliers, battery manufacturers and research institutions are participating in the 45 million euro project. From 2010 onwards, the test fleet of around 20 vehicles will gather experience in everyday life over a period of two years. The Golf “TwinDrive” produced for this purpose has an electric motor for emission-free driving in the city and an internal combustion engine that provides the drive on long journeys. The manufacturer stated the range in electric mode as 50 kilometers.

The Golf’s electric motor has an output of 82 hp and speeds up to 120 km / h. The fast-charging lithium-ion batteries can be charged in four hours from 220-volt sockets. Another 2.0 liter turbodiesel used in the range has an output of 122 hp and is primarily intended as a range extender: when the batteries are exhausted, the electronics switch to combustion mode. To save energy, the car also has an automatic start-stop system, braking energy recovery and intelligent drive control.

With the large-scale test, Volkswagen wants to take another step on the way to fully electric vehicles. "The future, that’s for sure, will belong to the emission-free electric motors – charged at the socket," said VW boss Winterkorn. He had already announced that the next Golf generation will also be available in a so-called mild hybrid version with an automatic start-stop system. VW intends to use additional fuel-saving components from the “TwinDrive” prototype now presented – such as braking energy recovery – in other series-production vehicles with internal combustion engines.

According to Winterkorn, the next Touareg off-road vehicle should then be able to drive purely electrically as a full hybrid, at least on short journeys. The Jetta will also be available in the future as a “plug-in hybrid” with a battery that can be charged from a socket. In addition, Winterkorn had already announced an electric car that only runs on electricity from a lithium-ion battery. A vehicle from the New Small Family around the “Up!” Design study, the production of which is to begin in 2010 in a small series, will serve as the basis for this.

You can read more about electric cars here.

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