Geneva '08 Preview: VW Golf TDI Hybrid hits the web
by Alex Nunez on Mar 1st 2008 at 11:21AM 
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Click image for a gallery of the Golf TDI Hybrid
Auto Bild has decided to "help" Volkswagen introduce the VW Golf TDI Hybrid concept that the automaker will be unveiling in Geneva a few days from now. So, how does it look? Pretty impressive. The car mates a 75 PS (74 HP) 3-cylinder TDI (presumably the 1.4L used in the Polo BlueMotion), a 27 horsepower electric motor and a 7-speed DSG to average 69 mpg (3.4l/100km) in the European cycle with carbon dioxide emissions of just 90 g/km. The electric motor is powered by a trunk-mounted NiMH battery. Based on the Google Translation of the page, we glean that the Golf TDI Hybrid is a full hybrid capable of running on electric power, diesel power or a combination of the two. It also uses regenerative braking, a stop/start system, and one of those energy monitor videogame screens that gives you a graphical representation of the powertrain's activity. Visually, the car sports a new Vivid Blue finish and employs narrower grillework, a lowered suspension, and low-rolling-resistance rubber to help maximize aerodynamics and fuel economy. We'll bring you full details from the show next week.
Gallery: VW Golf TDI Hybrid
[Source: Auto Bild via German Car Blog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jon 11:27AM (3/01/2008)
And I suppose we are not getting it in North America? It's hard to be green over here with not many options on the lot for us.
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Paul Y 11:34AM (3/01/2008)
..but we don't need this, we have the 20mpg Hybrid Tahoe!
Jon 11:56AM (3/01/2008)
Haha, ya that $55K Tahoe solves all our problems!
Mario 8:48PM (3/01/2008)
Uh... that 20 mpg Tahoe is more efficient than every single Acura and BMW sold in the US and far more technologically advanced than anything any other automaker has on the market or will have in the next two years. Once they apply it to regular cars it will blow away your Prius for fuel efficiency. Its so great that BMW is licensing it for its next generation of hybrid vehicles.
Jon 8:53PM (3/01/2008)
Mario, if that's true then I hope this technology comes down to other vehicles and helps fuel economy.
Snark 11:44AM (3/01/2008)
Interestingly, the activity monitor implies that it's AWD.
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letstakeawalk 11:59AM (3/01/2008)
Wouldn't that display be showing the energy recaptured during regenerative braking? 4WD is terribly inefficient as drivetrains go.
Willis 12:16PM (3/01/2008)
It also implies a v6
I think the screen shots are off a hybrid touareg mule
Scott Eaton 1:59PM (3/01/2008)
No, the graphic isn't showing power OUTPUT to the wheels, it's showing power INPUT from each wheel's regenerative braking, I believe.
why not the LS2/LS7? 9:59PM (3/01/2008)
If it can't drive all 4 wheels, it can't recover energy from all 4 wheels either.
Randy 11:44AM (3/01/2008)
Jon there are plenty of options. We can fill our diesel tanks with used french fry oil for isntance. Yeah obesity will go even further through the roof and we'll need Ford to bring back the Excursion to cart our fat rears around but there are options :)
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Jon 12:00PM (3/01/2008)
Randy, my good friend has an Excursion that runs about a 10% biodeisel mixture. He told me that some others in town are running on it 100% after some conversions. But used restaurant oil isn't easy to find unless you have some sort of deal with the owners.
why not the LS2/LS7? 12:18PM (3/01/2008)
Veggie oil (waste cooking oil) isn't the same as biodiesel. Biodiesel has been processed a little bit and many vehicles can run 100% Biodiesel with no modifications, whereas any veggie oil vehicle will have to have a switch in the fuel line since a cold engine cannot start on veggie oil.
Owain Ozymandias Buck 1:35PM (3/01/2008)
Biodiesel has been processed a great deal. You mix the veg oil with one fifth as much methanol and either NaOH or KOH. The process of transesterification strips the fatty acid chains from the glycerin component of the oil and attaches an alkyl group to each fatty acid chain. The glycerin is removed by settling. The resulting biodiesel has less viscosity than veg oil and has combustion properties similar to petroleum diesel fuel. Biodiesel has a higher cetane rating and better lubricity. Not to mention that is a no-sulfur fuel. It does have a higher gel point than petrodiesel--seriously so with long chain saturated fats. Palm or lard diesel would not be good for Minnesota in the winter.
Biodiesel is extremely hard to make to standard--very few home processors achieve anything close to spec fuel. It's best to buy it from a reputable distributor or commercial processor. It's fun to play with--I do recommend making a few small batches just to see it for yourself, but I'd stick to the pro-made fuel for long term use. I've got the invoice for a new injector pump from putting in someone's badly made, unwashed biodiesel--known to me only after the fact. Bad homemade biodiesel gives the stuff a bad name.
Burning straight veg oil in a modern diesel is just flat out stupid. Sure, you can do it for a while, but eventually you will coke it up. Not if, but when. I might burn SVO in an old stationary Lister or some such big flywheel motor, but forget the SVO conversions for modern engines. "Grease Car" is an emergency concept at best.
One of the best things about biodiesel is that if you're worried about losing lubricity with ULSD, a small percentage biodiesel blend will set it right.
Randy 5:20PM (3/01/2008)
I was being totally sarcastic friends :)
Snark 11:48AM (3/01/2008)
Overall, I'm disappointed. It looks like a special-edition Rabbit with a new color option. How hard is it to maybe throw a unique front fascia and headlights on an important concept car? It should look visually distinctive and interesting, not like every $17k VW hatch rolling around.
The tech, however, is very cool. Pity that's the only interesting thing about it, however.
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Jimbo 12:00PM (3/01/2008)
Personally, I like the subdued look. I don't need to advertise to the world that I drive a hybrid or a diesel. A couple discrete badges would be fine (not the gigantic H-Y-B-R-I-D written across the sides of the Tahoe).
AlexP 7:57PM (3/01/2008)
The Tahoe actually has not 2, but 9 hybrid badges. Same goes with with the Yukon.
It's ridiculous and overdone, but subtle and hybrid aren't words that... Like eachother. If people can't tell the difference between an hybrid SUV (especially one that's the size of the Tahoe) and the run-of-the-mill one, they'll just label you the way they label the rest of Tahoe drivers, and that's not what hybrid buyers want. :v
It's good for their ego if people say of them that they're "saving the Earth (bullsh*t)", and without those 9 stickers, people can't tell! :D
asdf asdfds sd 12:23PM (3/01/2008)
I just read the original german page. Autoblog's translation is not quite right. My technical german is rusty, but I think the article indicates it is a Serial hybrid like the volt, not a full hybrid like the prius
This also jives with the screen that shows the diesel motor connected to the electric motor, but not the wheels.
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Tim 1:50PM (3/01/2008)
Although I don't read german, I doubt it's a serial hybrid because of the seven speed transmission. I don't think a serial hybrid would opt to lose efficiency through a transmission; if this car has one, the engine's power must be getting to the road directly. Maybe the diesel runs the front wheels and the electric the rear? That might explain the description discrepancy. (if that is what a serial hybrid is and I sound like an idiot, I'm thinking that a serial is where the diesel runs a generator.) I really wish this was in the us. Really, really.