Volkswagen Restructures, Adds Dedicated Electric Car Division

Rocked by a diesel emissions cheating scandal that has cut Volkswagen’s share price by one third and cost investors billions, Volkswagen head Herbert Diess has restructured the company into four new divisions. “We expect these changes to bring about a major acceleration in (vehicle) development,” Diess said. The new structure “strengthens cooperation across all functions and also increases the profitability of the brand.”

According to Reuters, three of those divisions will deal exclusively with small cars, like the Up!, compact cars like the Golf, and larger cars like the Passat. Each division also has crossovers and SUVs within its mandate. The important news, though, for those hoping VW can pull out of its tailspin, is that the development of all Volkswagens with batteries will now be the responsibility of one group of employees with one general manager.

The person Volkswagen has hired to run the battery car division is Christian Senger, who was previously the head of electronics and autonomous driving technology at Continental, a major supplier to the automotive industry. He began with Continental in 2012, after two years at BMW, where he worked on that company’s i3 and i8 vehicles.

Volkswagen showed off the first concept car built on its all new Modular Electric Toolkit, known internally as MEB, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. The BUDD-e concept is a re-interpretation of the iconic VW Microbus that became the vehicle of choice for hippies everywhere in the 60’s. The BUDD-e features a 101 kWh lithium ion battery and is said to have a range of nearly 300 miles.

A “toolkit” is industry slang for a common chassis platform that can be used to build a variety of different cars on the same assembly line. That saves time and development costs, which helps a company operate more profitably. The concept was first developed by world renowned and long time Volkswagen/Audi engineer Ulrich Hackenberg, who departed the company quite suddenly last December. The BUDD-e may be several years from production. Certainly, its battery is nowhere near ready for manufacture.

Senger will be tasked with propelling Volkswagen forward into the age of electric cars as quickly as possible, so the company can move on from its embarrassing diesel emissions debacle. Certainly the sooner it can show customers and regulators that it is working hard to redeem itself the better. Will it ever reclaim its title as world’s largest car company? That remains to be seen. But if it accomplished it once, it could very well do so again.

2015 Volkswagen Passat CC Spied, Uncovered, in China

Volkswagen showed a concept version of its upcoming 2015 Passat CC “four-door coupe” model at the Beijing Auto Show last month. That concept car, called the New Midsize Coupe upon its debut, wasn’t particular coupe-ish. Still, it had legs, with Volkswagen execs telling the guys at Autoblog that it’s look was what “customers all over the world can look forward to over the next few years.” It seems they meant that literally, if the new-for-2015 Volkswagen Passat CC seen here- which was caught testing in China last week- is any indication.

Here’s what the New Midsize Concept looked like in Beijing …

… and here, below, is what the 2015 Volkswagen Passat spied in China looks like. As you can see, the sharp body crease about door-handle-high is there, as are most of the (admittedly production-ready) concept’s interior design elements.

Expect new diesel and hybrid options to make up the bulk of the Chinese CC offerings- but, despite the success VW’s had with diesels in the US, don’t expect to see a diesel hybrid 2015 Volkswagen Passat CC stateside anytime soon. Any US version is far more likely to be based on Volkswagen’s recently announced gas-electric hybrid system.

Sources | More Photos: Car News China, VW viaAutoblog.

2015 Passat Hybrid Coming, Says Volkswagen

It looks like Volkswagen is going to expand on its existing 2-hybrid lineup for the 2015 model year with the addition of a new 2015 Passat Hybrid model. That news comes on the heels of the Geneva auto show, and is based on recent comments made by the Volkswagen Group Chairman, Martin Winterkorn.

In addition to the expected 2015 Passat Hybrid, Winterkorn pointed out that VW’s research and development expenditures rose by 15% last year, to a company record $14 billion. The “lion’s share,” of that money is “going to green technologies,” according to Winterkorn, who said that the move was meant to reinforcing Volkswagen’s stated objective to become the world’s leading “green” automaker by 2018.

When it arrives next year, the 2015 Volkswagen Passat Hybrid will join the existing Touareg SUV and record-setting Jetta sedan hybrid models currently on sale in the US, and may be the first plug-in hybrid the company offers Stateside with a VW badge (the Porsche Panamera Hybrid is, also, a VW product). Expect the PHEV model to be close to the top of the line R spec Passats (shown, below) and priced competitively against the 50 MPG Honda Accord Hybrid that debuted late last year.

Source | Photos: Volkswagen, via Green Car Congress, via Cleantechnica.

Volkswagen Passat Plug-In Hybrid to Debut in 2015

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2014 VW Passat

Autobild is reporting that Volkswagen has at least one more plug-in hybrid in the works.

A3 Sportback e-tron Cutaway

Set to debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, the VW Passat PHEV will round out Volkswagen’s vast array of plug-in vehicles.

• VW e-Golf BEV
• VW Golf GTE PHEV
• VW e-Up! BEV
• VW XL-1 PHEV

And soon VW Passat PHEV.  Dr. Martin Winterkorn, VW Group chairman of the board, made this statement at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show:

“Further high-efficiency models such as the Audi A8, A6 and Q7 or the plug-in hybrid version of the Volkswagen Passat are to follow soon. Because this technology has a future.”

The VW Passat PHEV, like the Audi A3 e-tron Sportback, will feature the following:

• 1.4-liter turbocharged four cylinder gasoline engine with 148 hp
• Electric motor with 107 hp
• 8.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
• 31 miles (NEDC) of electric-only range (estimated 20-odd miles on the EPA standard)

As Autobild reports (via Google Translate):

“Also a done deal is a plug -in hybrid, which follows on from the technology of the Audi A3 e-tron… Market launch is already at the IAA 2015 , we see the normal Passat in the autumn of 2014.”

There’s no word yet on whether or not the PHEV Passat will be sold in the US.  We suspect it will be, as the Passat is a vehicle tailored to American tastes.  If it arrives, expect it no earlier than later 2015 and to perhaps be priced in the upper $30,000 region.

Source: Autobild

VW Passat Bluemotion Gets 42 MPG With Cylinder Deactivation

General Motors was one of the first companies to offer cylinder-deactivation technology in cars with the infamous Cadillac 8-6-4 engine. Decades later, the technology is far more refined, and Volkswagen is taking advantage of improvements to cylinder deactivation to debut a Passat Bluemotion Concept that shuts down half of the 1.4 liter engine’s cylinders, resulting in 42 MPG.

It marks the first time an automaker has built an inline four-cylinder engine comes equipped with cylinder deactivation, though Volkswagen didn’t stop there. Engineers also added the transmission decoupling feature found on the Jetta Hybrid to let the Passat Bluemotion Concept coast freely in traffic and down hills.

The result from these and other features is a mid-size sedan with 150 horsepower, 184 ft-lbs of torque, and capable of up to 42 MPG on the highway. While not exactly groundbreaking, this non-hybrid gas sipper could save frugal drivers a lot of deniro at the gas pump. While the record-setting Passat TDI manages 43 MPG on the highway, should this concept come to life, it would likely be priced well-below the diesel threshold.

Though just a concept for now, the technology has a very real chance of working its way into the Volkswagen lineup. It might not be the most exciting story ahead of the Detroit Auto Show, but it’s one concept that might actually make it to the dealership floor.

Source: Volkswagen

Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Concept: High-MPG Model At Detroit Auto Show

At next week's Detroit Auto Show, VW will take the wraps off a concept car that previews a new and more fuel-efficient version of its mainstream Passat mid-size sedan.

The Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Concept features a direct-injected and turbocharged 150-horsepower, 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine producing 184 lb-ft of torque. It powers the front wheels through a DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The concept car is said to return gas mileage of up to 42 mpg on the highway cycle, though Volkswagen didn't specify all three components of an EPA rating.

Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Concept, 2014 Detroit Auto Show

The engine and transmission are the same ones used in the Jetta Hybrid compact sedan, and they will become a mainstay in many VW models over the coming years.

Other features that boost fuel economy in the small engine are cylinder deactivation under light loads, already fitted to European versions of that engine used in the new Golf and other models.

The Active Cylinder Management system deactivates valves on the two middle cylinders under light loads at low speeds, and VW says it's a first for an inline four-cylinder engine.

Volkswagen has also included a start-stop feature that switches off the engine when the Passat Concept is at rest.

And a coasting function decouples the transmission from the engine when the driver lifts a foot off the accelerator, allowing the car to roll further on momentum due to reduced mechanical drag.

The concept car, coated in a Reef Blue metal paint that will be added to the Passat lineup, features blue highlights on the two-tone leather seats.

The BlueMotion efficiency sub-brand has been used in Europe for more than five years, but this is its first significant appearance in the U.S. market.

Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Concept, 2014 Detroit Auto Show

The 2014 Passat is offered today in the U.S. with four engines, three gasoline models and a diesel.

The best fuel efficiency is provided by the Passat TDI with the 140-hp 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine and six-speed manual gearbox, rated at 35 mpg combined (31 mpg city, 43 mpg highway). The gasoline version with the best mileage uses a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, either with a five-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic, that's rated at 28 mpg combined.

The concept car is likely a lightly-disguised version of a new Passat production version that will be launched sometime later this year, perhaps as a 2015 model.

For all the latest news from next week's auto show, see our Detroit Auto Show index page.

Source: Green Car Reports

Volkswagen Passat TDI Sets Cross-Country MPG Record

If cars can get triple-digit fuel economy from a single gallon of fossil fuels, do we really need an alternative? That is quite the question, isn’t it? It is made all the more complicated because a couple of well-known hypermilers just set a new cross-country mpg record in a turbodiesel-powered Volkswagen Passat TDI, averaging an astounding 77.9 mpg.

CleanMPG.com founder Wayne Gerdes and co-driver Bob Winger, an electrical engineer, visited all 48 contiguous U.S. states in 17 days, covering 8,122 miles on just 104.94 gallons of diesel fuel. The duo set off from Volkswagen’s Virginia headquarters and using techniques like drafting and shifting into neutral going downhill, they average almost 78 mpg.

Keep in mind this includes crossing some serious mountain ranges multiple times, including the Rockies and Adirondacks. Gerdes managed to beat his own 48-state record of 64.55 mpg, set back in 2011 with a Kia Optima Hybrid. With turbodiesels now surpassing hybrids in terms of fuel economy, are we approaching an age where burning fossil fuels is the responsible thing to do?

Source: Volkswagen

Volkswagen Passat TDI sets Guinness World Record for fuel economy around the 48 US states; 78 mpg US

A Volkswagen Passat TDI, produced at the Volkswagen Chattanooga (Tennessee) plant, now has covered 8,122 miles (13,071 km) with record low fuel consumption and within 16 days. The record drive was witnessed by officials of the Guinness World Record Organization.

The driver team, hyper-miler Wayne Gerdes of CleanMPG and engineer Bob Winger, achieved a fuel consumption of only 3.02 l/100 km (77.99 mpg US).

We felt we had a good chance of beating the existing record with a series production Passat TDI, but to smash it by averaging 77.99 mpg is really impressive and a testament to the potential of Volkswagen’s TDI vehicles. It shows how much the fuel consumption depends on the driver.

—Wayne Gerdes

Volkswagen’s advanced turbocharged and direct-injection TDI engine offers an official highway fuel economy of 43 miles per gallon (EPA) when equipped with the six-speed manual transmission (5.5 l/100 km).

Volkswagen Passat TDI Aims For 68 MPG On U.S. Road Trip

Volkswagen's 2013 Passat TDI is the most efficient diesel vehicle currently on sale.

Its EPA-rated figures of 31 mpg city, 43 highway and 35 combined put it above a throng of other Volkswagen-Audi diesels, and make it a prime choice for frugal highway driving.

But is 68 mpg within reach? If you're multiple economy record holder Wayne Gerdes, it might be.

In conjunction with Volkswagen of America, serial hypermiler Gerdes has set off on a 8,000-mile journey around the 48 contiguous states to set a Guinness World Record for "lowest fuel consumption--48 U.S. states for a non-hybrid car."

To set that record, Gerdes and the Passat will have to beat the previous record, already held in the Passat TDI, of 67.9 mpg.

"It’s going to be a great adventure and I’m confident we can improve upon the current record," Gerdes said.

With the journey already underway--Gerdes set off on June 7th from VW of America's Hernden, VA headquarters--Gerdes and co-driver Bob Winger will comfortably exceed VW's claims for 795 highway miles on every tank of diesel--already impressive range for a passenger vehicle.

Gerdes is certainly the right man for the job. In addition to holding the equivalent 48-state record in a hybrid vehicle, he's set over 100 other economy records.

That hybrid record was set just one year ago, by Gerdes and co-driver Chris Bernius in a 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid sedan, with a final figure of 64.5 mpg.

Such figures are beyond the reach of many drivers, and we'd usually not advocate the sort of ultra-efficient driving required to achieve such numbers--some hypermiling techniques can disrupt traffic or even be dangerous, though we're sure Gerdes is experienced in that regard.

But it does show that almost any vehicle is capable of more than its advertised figures, with careful driving.

Source: Green Car Reports

Germany could have a million plug-in vehicles by 2020

Germany may only have a quarter the population of the US, but that won't stop the country from being on America's heels when it comes to electric-drive vehicle adoption.

The country's Germany Trade & Invest publication, citing a Horvath & Partners study, estimates that there will be about a million plug-in vehicles on Germany's roads by the end of the decade, five short years after President Obama has said the US plug-in vehicle count will hit that threshold. There's a good chance the US will not hit that target, but we'll see.

Germany will have about 150,000 publicly accessible charging stations by 2020. Such stations will be a boon for drivers of cars like the BMW i3 plug-in vehicle and the plug-in hybrid versions of the Volkswagen Golf and Passat, which are among the models that will debut during the next couple of years. For a general comparison, the US has about 5,200 publicly accessible charging stations today.

Germany's plug-in adoption will be a major topic of conversation at the Advanced Automotive Batteries Conference in Pasadena, CA, next week. Check out the press release below.



Source: Autoblog Green

Volkswagen Installs Huge Solar Array At Chattanooga Plant

Volkswagen flipped a large ceremonial switch yesterday that signaled the official launch of a huge array of photovoltaic solar cells at its Chattanooga assembly plant, which builds the Volkswagen Passat mid-size sedan.

The new solar field can supply up to 12.5 percent of the plant’s total energy needs, adding to an already low-carbon electricity supply that includes roughly 50 percent nuclear and hydro generation.

With a generating capacity of 9.6 megwatts of direct current, the 33-acre solar field is the largest one at any industrial plant in the world, the largest in Tennessee, and the largest at any automaker.

Fully 65 acres of land on the 1,400-acre plant site are dedicated to the solar array, whose total energy production is 13.1 gigawatt-hours each year—or roughly the energy used by 1,200 homes.

It was designed and built, and is owned and operated, by Silicon Ranch, at an approximate cost of $28 million. The photovoltaic solar panels are manufactured by Phoenix Solar, the U.S. arm of a German photovoltaic manufacturing firm. The cells themselves were fabricated in China and Mexico.

The field was actually first powered up in November, but today’s event brought together executives from Volkswagen Group AG, local dignitaries, and both businesses and environmental journalists.

Volkswagen will not get a payback on the solar power, according to Frank Fischer, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. But the photovoltaic array is part of an entire set of sustainable manufacturing practices—under VW’s “Think Blue” sustainability philosophy—that is cutting the company’s manufacturing costs substantially. It includes reductions in energy, materials, and water use, and cut both airborne emissions and waste.

The solar field is the last of several elements required to earn the Chattanooga plant a prestigious LEED Platinum designation for sustainability. It thus becomes the only auto assembly plant with a Platinum rating, which requires a diverse array of best practices in sustainability.

The Chattanooga plant is intended to be a benchmark in sustainability for an auto assembly plant, and a role model for VW plants around the world, said Wolfram Thomas, VW Group’s senior vice president for environment, energy, and new business areas.

Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee

The plant is built, for instance, on a brownfield site where TNT was formerly manufactured. The construction process included measures to minimize land erosion, and roughly three quarters of the construction waste was recycled.

The plant is lit partly with natural light through skylights, and hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater are gathered each year from its roofs for use in flushing toilets.

Much of the 1,400 acres on which the plant sites will remain as wetlands, and a stream running through the property was diverted to provide more absorption of rainwater to reduce the impact of runoff on local rivers.

The Passat itself is manufactured using best assembly practices, especially in the paint shop. It does not use a primer paint coat, and water-based paints, dry powder absorption of overspray, and other techniques combine to reduce emissions and cut water use.

VW Chattanooga plant

“We are Germans,” said Thomas in his introductory remarks. “We are thorough.”

That thoroughness applies, in this case, to the company’s approach to spreading sustainability practices across its global network of parts and assembly plants. VW Group opened its 100^th global plant, an engine-building facility in Silao, Mexico, last week.

The company plans to cut its overall carbon emissions in 2015 by 30 percent over the level in 2006, and it has committed to make every new generation of a given car line 10 to 15 percent more efficient than the car it replaces.

Source: Green Car Reports

2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI

Engine:

Turbodiesel 2.0L I4

Power:

140 HP / 236 LB-FT

Transmission:

6-Speed Manual

0-60 Time:

9.0 Seconds (est.)

Drivetrain:

Front-Wheel Drive

Curb Weight:

3,393 LBS

Seating:

2+3

MPG:

31 City / 43 HWY

MSRP:

$27,020 (as tested)

Can you name a fun-to-drive sedan with a manual transmission that can transport five adults and their luggage comfortably while sipping fuel at the rate of 50 mpg? The answer is the Volkswagen Passat TDI – a German antonym for "range anxiety."

The past forty years have seen the Volkswagen Passat evolve from a three-door hatchback with a 1.5-liter engine (sold as the Dasher in the States) to a four-door near-luxury sedan boasting a 4.0-liter W8 a decade ago. I'm making the case that today's reasonably priced diesel-burning 2.0-liter TDI is the best, and most sensible, Passat ever built.

• The turbocharged, direct-injected, 2.0-liter inline-four is a little stump puller. While only rated at 140 horsepower, it delivers 236 pound-feet of torque at 1,500 rpm. Launching from a standstill – even with a full load – was uneventful and it pulled confidently under all driving conditions (even though the acceleration numbers are far from impressive).
• According to the EPA, the Passat TDI earns 31 mpg city and 43 mpg highway – but not on my watch. My city average was more like 35 mpg and 50 mpg wasn't difficult to achieve on the highway at 70 mph. With an 18.5-gallon fuel tank, its cruising range is just short of the moon.
• Curiosity got the better of me one night, so I decided to run a 100-mile highway loop between Camarillo and Goleta on Southern California's coastal US 101. Following a few suggestions, I pumped the tires up from the recommended 32 psi to 42 psi (51 psi is the maximum on the sidewall of the all-season Continental ContiProContact tires), shut off the air conditioning and set cruise control at 60 mph on the highway. Driving at this "hypermiling" speed was painful, but it delivered an impressive 56.9 mpg according to the Passat's computer – that's a burn rate of just over one gallon per hour!
• The Passat's cabin is huge. Almost limousine-like in the second row, it easily swallowed two adults and three teenage soccer players (with all of the associated gear in the trunk) during a long drive to a weekend tournament. Nobody complained about room, and the air vents in the second row kept the atmosphere fresh.
• The cabin appointments on the 6MT model, Volkswagen's SE trim, aren't very luxurious. An upgrade to a sunroof, navigation, leather upholstery or even an iPod interface requires acceptance of the dual-clutch DSG automatic, which brings with it lower fuel economy and a less engaging driving experience. That's very frustrating.
• On the odd side of things, the clutch pedal transmitted an awful lot of engine vibration to the driver's left foot and I noticed an unnerving sound of fuel sloshing around inside the tank each time the sedan came to a stop (keep the radio on and passengers won't notice). [Volkswagen says the noise I heard was the AdBlue urea solution sloshing around inside its 4.9-gallon tank in the trunk. One tank lasts about 15,000 miles - MH]
• Even though the diesel is the perhaps the wisest choice in the Passat family, Volkswagen doesn't seem to want offer consumers any incentives to take one home. Unattractive lease and financing rates on the TDI often make its more expensive gasoline counterparts (or worse, its competitors) more attractive in the showroom. America's wildly fluctuating (but generally costlier) diesel fuel prices don't help, either.