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Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive: Plug-In Hybrid Car

Motoring Channel Staff - 27/June/2008

Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive: Plug-In Hybrid Car
Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive: Plug-In Hybrid Car

Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive: Plug-In Hybrid Car
Not your average engine bay

Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive: Plug-In Hybrid Car
Development for its plug-in hybrid Golf is well
advanced, and Volkswagen could launch it in 2010

Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive: Plug-In Hybrid Car
The VW Golf Twin Drive does have regenerative
braking and other systems to recharge the battery,
but using green plug-in electricity is the way to go

Wolfsburg, Germany — As the price of petrol and diesel keeps rising, car manufacturers the world over are speeding up the development of next generation propulsion units for electric cars to mitigate possible short-term profit loses as buyers move away from petrol-powered vehicles.

One such example has emerged at Volkswagen, which has just released the Golf Twin Drive in Germany and is the European car maker's first plug-in hybrid car.

A fleet of around 20 vehicles has been handed over to the German government to use and test before any major marketing commitments are made.

Most major automakers in Europe, Asia, and America are imploring their country's leaders to ratchet up the government spending and investment on green cars and low and zero emission technologies.

This is because it would benefit the world's huge manufacturing industries, who stand to lose a lot business if the current trend of rising oil prices persists.

The argument is that more investment by governments would help speed up research and development into new technologies which in turn would begin to deliver the long-term CO2 reduction targets that many countries are seeking.

It is claimed that transport contributes about one third of the planet's annual CO2 emissions.

According to reports out of Germany the plug-in electric VW Golf Twin Drive has a back-up diesel engine that kicks in when the lithium-ion batteries run out of charge, but running on its 61kW (82hp) electric motor the vehicles produce zero CO2 emissions.

The vehicles have a range of around 50 kilometres (30 miles) running purely on electricity and are able to reach a reported speed of around 120km/h (75mph).

When not in use the vehicles can be plugged into normal wall sockets to rapidly recharge the batteries, and if using green electricity the vehicle can provide true zero emission transport.

When the batteries do run out of juice, there is a high efficiency turbo diesel engine that switches on, to avoid stranding driver and passengers.

If testing runs smoothly, we could see the Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive plug in hybrid on the road by 2010.

Related articles:
- Volkswagen Golf TDI Hybrid (2009)
- Volkswagen Scirocco (2008)
- Volkswagen Tiguan (First Drive)
- Volkswagen Golf GTI (Road Test)
- Volkswagen Passat TDI Wagon (Road Test)
- Volkswagen Passat CC (2008)
- Volkswagen Passat R36 (2008)
- Volkswagen Eos (Road Test)
- Volkswagen Touareg R50 (2007)
- Volkswagen Golf GT - TSI (Road Test)
- Volkswagen Golf R32 (Road Test)
- Volkswagen Polo TDI (Road Test)
- Volkswagen Motorbikes (2010

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