A hybrid version of the Touareg SUV will go into production in 2010, fitted with a supercharged V6 TSI petrol and an electric motor.
The Touareg Hybrid is being developed alongside other more familiar fuel-efficient vehicles. In future, all of Volkswagen’s more environmentally friendly products will be developed under the name ‘BlueMotion Technologies’.
The Touareg Hybrid develops 333PS (245kW) from its supercharged petrol engine, and another 52PS (38kW) from an electric motor. Drive is transmitted via an eight-speed gearbox. Up to 30mph, the Touareg is driven by the electric motor alone, powered by a set of nickel-metal hydride batteries that are housed in the spare wheel well under the boot floor. The petrol motor will only kick in if it is very cold – when the petrol engine can more effectively power the car’s heating systems – or if the batteries need charging.
A disengagement clutch means that no petrol engine parts are turning when the electric motor is running. On some other hybrid systems, the crankshaft and pistons continue to turn when the electric motor is operating.
The Hybrid isn’t just green (31.4mpg and 210g/km of CO2) but quick, too – 62mph comes in a claimed in 6.8sec, 0.7sec faster than the 4.2-litre V8 Touareg.
Autocar magazine’s Greg Kable has already driven the Touareg Hybrid in Wolfsburg. Kable reckoned that it ‘is already one of the most effective combinations of petrol and electric propulsion yet devised.’ The hybrid drive system will be even further refined by the time it arrives in 2010.
Related posts:
- World premiere of the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
- Lamborghini Hybrid model due 2015
- Volkswagen’s New Compact Coupe Hybrid Wins AutoWeek’s ‘Best Concept’ Editors’ Choice Award at 2010 NAIAS
- The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid to debut in Geneva
- Touareg Late Night Show – Munich celebrates the premiere of the upper class SUV by Volkswagen
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