Photo: Volkswagen
It was only a matter of time until one of Europe’s favorite hatches, the Golf, got a heart transplant and turned either hybrid or electric.
On Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Auto China event in Beijing, Volkswagen announced that it will “launch an electric version of its globally best-selling vehicle – the Volkswagen Golf.”
The word “electric” in is a bit of an overstatement, as the new Gold will not be electric tha way the Nissan Leaf is, for instance, but a more modern mild hybrid.
The eighth generation of Golf will be fitted with a 48-V belt-integrated starter generator and a 48-V battery that would complement the existing combustion engine. That means the new Golf would be alternately powered by other fuel or by electricity, as this system would allow for coasting with the engine switched off.
The hybrid is capable of recuperating braking energy, and stores the power in a 48-V lithium-ion battery. According to VW, the fuel consumption rating of the future Golf, when the system is switched on, is of 0.3 liters of per 100 kilometers. That’s over 780 miles per gallon.
The system to be used in the Golf is the weapon of choice Volkswagen will use to bring down fleet-wide emissions. The carmaker also promised to make it available for all the models in its lineup in the coming years.
“We are starting this extensive electrification campaign with Volkswagen’s best-selling vehicle to date – the Golf,” said Frank Welsch, the man in charge with Volkswagen’s technical development.
“Our newly developed, cost-effective 48-V mild hybrid will pave the way for introducing this type of technology to the mainstream.”
Details about when we can expect the new generation Golf were not released. The model’s current seventh generation was introduced last year, so we’re probably a good four years away from the new version.
The word “electric” in is a bit of an overstatement, as the new Gold will not be electric tha way the Nissan Leaf is, for instance, but a more modern mild hybrid.
The eighth generation of Golf will be fitted with a 48-V belt-integrated starter generator and a 48-V battery that would complement the existing combustion engine. That means the new Golf would be alternately powered by other fuel or by electricity, as this system would allow for coasting with the engine switched off.
The hybrid is capable of recuperating braking energy, and stores the power in a 48-V lithium-ion battery. According to VW, the fuel consumption rating of the future Golf, when the system is switched on, is of 0.3 liters of per 100 kilometers. That’s over 780 miles per gallon.
The system to be used in the Golf is the weapon of choice Volkswagen will use to bring down fleet-wide emissions. The carmaker also promised to make it available for all the models in its lineup in the coming years.
“We are starting this extensive electrification campaign with Volkswagen’s best-selling vehicle to date – the Golf,” said Frank Welsch, the man in charge with Volkswagen’s technical development.
“Our newly developed, cost-effective 48-V mild hybrid will pave the way for introducing this type of technology to the mainstream.”
Details about when we can expect the new generation Golf were not released. The model’s current seventh generation was introduced last year, so we’re probably a good four years away from the new version.
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