VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into

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The VW that fits half a soccer team

VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-fits

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The VW Cross Blue, the new family carriage from VW.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-team

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The trunk has a volume of 335 to 812 liters.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-soccer

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A special feature of the drive technology is the so-called "electric cardan shaft", which enables all-wheel drive even when the batteries are empty.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-cross

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In this case, the front electric motor driven by the gasoline engine acts as a generator that supplies the rear electric motor with power.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-team

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As a rule, however, electric and combustion engines take over the drive together, with the on-board electronics switching over to purely electric propulsion as often as possible. This can a…can also be activated permanently, the range is up to 33 kilometers.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-team

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The electricity required comes from a lithium-ion battery in the center tunnel, which can be charged at the socket. Alternatively, the petrol engine can also be used as a generator for the St…use energy generation. This makes sense, for example, if a section of the route is to be covered emission-free at a later point in time.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-half

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The design is aggressive. Although the Cross Blue shares the technology with the compact models Golf and Tiguan, it is in a class higher.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-blue

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It offers around 60 centimeters more than the current Tiguan, even towers over the Touareg by 20 centimeters – and offers a correspondingly large amount of space with a longer wheelbase than in the Phaeton.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-cross

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The bonds from other VW models cannot be overlooked.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-half

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The base price should be around 35,000 euros.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-team

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It’s a family van …

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-team

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… with flexible seating …

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-cross

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The space and legroom are comfortable.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-cross

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The cockpit appears clearly structured.

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VW Cross Blue: The VW that half a soccer team fits into-team

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And the Cross Blue is technically state-of-the-art anyway.

Source: VW

The new family van from Volkswagen is said to be more spacious than the Touareg and as inexpensive as a Tiguan. It is still a study, but the company’s executive board is determined to get it ready for series production.

I.In Europe, cars can still shrink a little. But in America big is still beautiful. At least with the off-road vehicles. They are increasingly replacing the classic minivan and are becoming the favorite cars of millions of so-called soccer mums who drive half soccer teams through the suburbs.

And because America is so crucial for VW on the way to the top of the world, the Lower Saxony are now responding to this trend with a thick ship that has never been seen at VW: Much larger and above all more spacious than a Touareg, but hardly more expensive than a Tiguan is to round off the model range upwards from 2016 as a new off-road giant.

If the production model is actually based on the Cross Blue study, as promised, and starts at a good 35,000 euros, it would have to go with the devil if such a car did not go down well with family men in Europe. “In any case, I would buy one right away,” says Dzemal Sjenar, who set up the study in the top secret prototype building in Wolfsburg with a team of less than two dozen specialists.

Bonds from the transverse construction kit

There is a simple reason that it only took him six months and the car is still fully functional. It uses proven technology. "Although the CrossBlue is so huge, we used the modular transverse matrix," says Sjenar. Axles, drive, floor pan – all of this is already used hundreds of thousands of times in the Golf, for example, and is also used for the new Tiguan, with which VW will start its off-road offensive in 2015. His big brother in the spirit of CrossBlue will then follow in the following year, says Sjenar.

It is true that the technical basis is provided by the modular transverse toolkit. But for the Tiguan on a big foot, the Lower Saxony stretch the wheelbase to just under three and the length to just under five meters. This means that the CrossBlue measures around 60 centimeters than the current Tiguan, even towers over the Touareg by 20 centimeters – and offers a correspondingly large amount of space with a longer wheelbase than in the Phaeton.

Not two, but three rows are planned. In the base, probably with a bench in the middle and then seven seats and in the upscale version, like now with the show car, with six individual armchairs. They are not only surprisingly comfortable and, above all, so generous that you can sit in the first two rows and still neatly in the third. But they are also very variable, can be moved, folded down or sunk into the floor.

Turn signals from the Golf

No wonder: "We took over the seat frames from the Sharan," says Sjenar with a wink and begins to move the big chair: If the CrossBlue still offers a respectable 335 liters of luggage space with full seating, the luggage compartment now grows to 812 and then even to almost 2000 liters and you literally wait for the echo when Sjenar calls into the huge room from the electric tailgate.

So while the technology is tried and tested and the design at best looks like evolution, the interior takes VW customers into a new world: apart from a few switches such as the indicator lever from the Golf or the mirror adjustment from the Passat, there is no known part.

Instead, one looks at freely configurable instruments that change the displays with the driving mode, a huge touchscreen towers above the center console, the selector lever for the dual clutch transmission feels more elegant than in a luxury yacht, the climate controls only move out of the consoles when the vehicle is started Switches are only sensor fields and the kids in the second row cheer over the mini-iPads that Sjenar has mounted in the headrests.

The show car specialist assures that almost all details can also be implemented in the series in this way. But it’s better not to bet on it. After all, the red pencil faction also has a say in this.

You feel invulnerable

A robust design, a good overview, the feeling of invulnerability and space without end – in principle, many Europeans would also like to drive such a car. If only it weren’t for the high consumption. VW is aware of these concerns and is therefore once again referring to the modular transverse matrix: Of course there will also be a V6 petrol engine for the Americans, because downsizing is still not that far off there. "But all engines that fit in the Golf also fit in the CrossBlue," says Sjenar. And with a 150 hp diesel, for example, socially acceptable consumption values ​​should be feasible.

With the trade fair model, Sjenar and his team are proving that such a big ship can even be a pioneer of the eco-movement. Because the CrossBlue is a plug-in hybrid with electric all-wheel drive and theoretically manages with 2.1 liters of diesel. That is not even half of what the most economical Tiguan currently needs in the class below.

At the front under the hood there is a two-liter TDI with 190 and an electric motor with 54 hp, in the center tunnel there is a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of almost ten kilowatt hours and a second electric motor with 115 hp works on the rear axle.

Together, the three units have a system output of 306 hp and a maximum torque of 700 Nm. That’s enough to get the truck up to 100 km / h in a good seven seconds and to over 200 km / h with a little run-up. But at the same time, the CrossBlue can also drive a good 30 kilometers with a maximum of 120 km / h purely electrically. And at least in the standard cycle, the consumption drops to 2.1 liters due to the large battery capacity.

The boss’s approval is only a matter of form

The concept has two other advantages: Because the front electric motor also works as a generator and can thus supply the rear with power while driving, the off-road vehicle digs through mud or snow on all fours even with an empty battery. And because the socket under the fuel filler flap works in both directions, you can’t just charge the off-road vehicle just about anywhere. You can draw electricity again during your next rest and finally read a few bedtime stories while camping even without a flashlight.

Plug-in still sounds like a dream of the future, at least in the VW Group. “But we have long since had a kit for this, too,” says Sjenar, referring to next year’s electric Golf, from which he has taken over the rear axle, or the Audi A3 e-tron, which will be the Group’s first hybrid next year Seeks connection to the socket. Sjenar calmly brushes aside any doubts about the implementation.

In general, hardly anyone speaks in the subjunctive when it comes to the study for the first time. Officially, the project still lacks the blessing of the board. But this is only a matter of form. Because it has long been recognized in Wolfsburg that the way to the top of the world can hardly be made without cars like the CrossBlue, admits Group development coordinator Ulrich Hackenberg when looking at the off-road vehicles: "This type of vehicle is booming and we would be well advised if we did did not leave the business to the other manufacturers. "

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