Volkswagen e-Golf Tagline: “One Drive And You’ll Almost Forget It’s Electric”

Volkswagen e-Golf

Properly advertising electric cars seems especially difficult for automakers who’ve spent the past decades marketing only ICE automobiles.

Such is the case here with the tagline Volkswagen has chosen to apply to its e-Golf:

“One drive and you’ll almost forget it’s electric.”

This Tagline Doesn’t Sit Well With Electric Vehicle Enthusiasts

That single line has created quite a stir among the electric vehicle enthusiast community.

The typical reactionary response to VW’s tagline is that forgetting it’s electric is impossible.  Electric is what takes the standard Golf to a higher level.  Once you’ve driven electric, you never go back, so VW stating that you’ll forget it’s electric misses the point entirely.  Some of the reasons for going electric are greater refinement, smoothness in power delivery and an all-around more enjoyable driving experience.  You certainly don’t want to forget these attributes of electric cars.

If we could modify VW’s tagline, while keeping most of it still intact, how should it read?

“One drive and you’ll….”

Let’s give VW some assistance by completing the line above with a proper ending.

Source: InsideEV's

Volkswagen Buys Stake In Mysterious Battery Company

Though it’s a relative late-comer to the electric vehicle game, Volkswagen has ambitious plans to get in on the action. Volkswagen executives have mentioned their intentions to source a better EV battery, and according to Bloomberg the German automaker has acquired a 5% stake in QuantumScape.

Among the promising technology Volkswagen is looking into are solid-state batteries, though just what QuantumScape has to offer remains a mystery. Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte with solid matter, which makes these types of batteries a lot less likely to catch on fire. They’re also more energy dense, with the potential to pack three times more range than today’s comparatively-sized battery packs. Unfortunately little else is known about QuantumScape, other than some former Stanford professors began the project back in 2010 and it may or may not have something to do with the “All-Electron Battery” project.

Alas, these and other battery advances aren’t quite ready for prime time, which is why the Volkswagen e-Golf packs about the same range as competitors like the Nissan LEAF and BMW i3. At the same time though, Volkswagen’s luxury branch Audi is going whole-hog into the plug-in car game, including a Tesla-rivaling all-electric sedan set for a Detroit Auto Show debut. You can bet that Volkswagen itself won’t be far behind with a more affordable version of its own down the line, though solid-state batteries are just one potential path VW may take to EV domination.

Could Volkswagen usurp Nissan, BMW, and even Tesla when it comes to plug-in cars? It looks like VW is going to make a go at it at the very least.

Source: Gas2

2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Gets New Look, Engine

The 2015 Volkswagen Golf is all-new from the ground on up, but it’s not the only Vdub getting a makeover this year. Perennial favorite of sorority sisters and practical fuel economy enthusiasts, the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta has a new look and a new TDI engine to go along with its $21,640 price tag, a $345 increase of the 2014 TDI model.

The base Jetta starts at $16,215, and engine options still include familiar names like the 1.8T, 2.0, and 2.0T, which offer between 23 MPG in the city and 34 MPG on the highway. For those who want even better gas mileage, but don’t want to spring for the $27,645 Jetta Hybrid, there’s the Jetta TDI. For 2015 a new 2.0 liter TDI Clean Diesel engine, which VW is saying will return a high of 46 MPG with a manual transmission.

That’s nearly as good as the 48 MPG of the Jetta Hybrid, though city fuel economy ratings haven’t been revealed just yet. That’s about a 10% increase from the 2014 TDI model, which offered just 42 MPG in comparison. Helping the TDI (and the 1.8T) achieve better fuel economy are active grille shutters, which close off the grille at highway speeds to improve airflow. The TDI engine has also received a 10 horsepower boost, now making 150 ponies and 236 lb-ft of torque.

For the $21,640 price tag (plus another $810 destination fee), TDI buyers will also get Bluetooth connectivity, keyless entry, cruise control, air conditioning, and heated exterior mirrors among other standard features. Volkswagen knows as well as anyone else that manual transmission sedans just aren’t that popular these days…but for 46 MPG, a few people might just make the effort to learn.

TDI drivers regularly report higher-than-rated gas mileage too, so if you drive it right, the 2015 Jetta TDI might just be a hybrid replacement when it hits dealerships later this year.

Source:  Gas 2.