Photo: Car and Driver
The race to electrify the lineup is intensifying at Volkswagen, a company at the center of perhaps the biggest scandal in automotive history. Despite the fact Dieselgate hasn’t hurt VW sales all that much, the carmaker knows it has to change its ways.
The biggest step in this direction is the electrification of its lineup. But unlike automakers, Volkswagen will apparently not try to launch a wide range of all-electric models, but opt instead for hybridization.
This weekend, during the Vienna Motor Symposium, the carmaker presented its first diesel engine that will come as a mild-hybrid system. Alongside it sat the 1.5 TGI Evo natural gas engine, internally known as the EA211 Evo.
This unit is based on the 1.5 TSI ACT BlueMotion and develops the same amount of power, 130 horsepower. The difference is that it has an estimated average consumption of 3.5 kg/100 km, when fitted inside a current generation Golf with dual clutch gearbox.
Volkswagen say the new unit will be capable of giving the model it is fitted on a range of 490 km (305 miles) in CNG mode. This range is extended with the use of the petrol tank by an additional 190 km (118 miles).
Volkswagen did not say what model will be the first to use the new unit, but production is expected to start later this year.
As for the diesel mild hybrid (EA288 Evo), the new engine will at first be used in Audi vehicles with longitudinally installed drive trains. It would also be mounted transversely in the modular transverse matrix (MQB) vehicles of the group’s brands.
“With the EA288 Evo engine family, Volkswagen has developed a TDI range that is technologically at the forefront of the competitive environment,” says Volkswagen.
“The combustion process of the engines has been redesigned and improved both in terms of efficiency and in terms of raw emission behavior.”
The first mild-hybrid of the Volkswagen range will be the next Golf, which has been confirmed in Beijing to be fitted with an internal combustion engine and a 48-V battery.
This weekend, during the Vienna Motor Symposium, the carmaker presented its first diesel engine that will come as a mild-hybrid system. Alongside it sat the 1.5 TGI Evo natural gas engine, internally known as the EA211 Evo.
This unit is based on the 1.5 TSI ACT BlueMotion and develops the same amount of power, 130 horsepower. The difference is that it has an estimated average consumption of 3.5 kg/100 km, when fitted inside a current generation Golf with dual clutch gearbox.
Volkswagen say the new unit will be capable of giving the model it is fitted on a range of 490 km (305 miles) in CNG mode. This range is extended with the use of the petrol tank by an additional 190 km (118 miles).
Volkswagen did not say what model will be the first to use the new unit, but production is expected to start later this year.
As for the diesel mild hybrid (EA288 Evo), the new engine will at first be used in Audi vehicles with longitudinally installed drive trains. It would also be mounted transversely in the modular transverse matrix (MQB) vehicles of the group’s brands.
“With the EA288 Evo engine family, Volkswagen has developed a TDI range that is technologically at the forefront of the competitive environment,” says Volkswagen.
“The combustion process of the engines has been redesigned and improved both in terms of efficiency and in terms of raw emission behavior.”
The first mild-hybrid of the Volkswagen range will be the next Golf, which has been confirmed in Beijing to be fitted with an internal combustion engine and a 48-V battery.
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