VW Jumps on Plug-In “Wagen” - June 27th, 2008
Plug-in. Those just seem to be the magic words in the automotive world these days. The latest on the bandwagon, going up against the Chevy Volt destined for showrooms in 2010 and the long-rumored Prius plug-in is venerable VW. Yep, Volkswagen has cooked up a “Twin Drive” Golf sporting a diesel engine with 122 hp and an electric motor with 82. Like the Volt, the new VW is expected to appear in 2010 — roughly 18 months off.
The project is seriously spendy, with the company ponying up $769 million and getting a boost up from a $23.5 million government program in Germany for the development of a plug-in. The idea is that the car will rely on the electric motor as its primary power source with the diesel for backup. Regenerative braking will supply more power and with lithium-ion batteries by Sanyo, the goal is roughly 31 miles on all-electric. That’s going to come in about 9 miles under the Volt’s goal of 40.
Forty is the magic number in this class of vehicle as that’s the guess on what most people knock off in a day of normal urban driving. Read the fine print, however, and you’ll discover that the range of any “all electric” is going to be reduced depending on how you drive it — the same factor early adopters of the Prius discovered. Given all that, is it still a good idea? Well, do the math. We’ll keep it simple. If your car gets a lousy 20 miles a gallon in town, with gas at $4 that’s $8 a day or $240 a month. Run that out to a year, and you’re saving $12,480.
Posted on June 27th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: technology, alternative fuels |
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