Hybrid News

Filed under: Volkswagen, Frankfurt Motor Show, Green Daily

There are a mind-boggling amount of video hosting services around. One of them, webcastr, let us know about a new video they’re hosting that is Car and Driver’s look at the VW Up! concept during the Frankfurt Motor Show. Unlike YouTube and other video sites, it’s not that obvious to me how to embed the video to this post, so the picture above will just take you to the Webcastr page where the video is viewable. Since I can’t get the new video to embed, you can watch another one about the Up! here.

So, what’s the content here? Nothing that we haven’t seen before, really. It’s a minute with the Up!, and not a bad introduction. Webcastr captions the video “This people’s car is targeted more at emerging markets.” I’m not sure where they get that idea. Csaba Csere, Car and Driver’s editor-in-chief, says at the end of the video that a production Up! would probably be headed to the U.S.

Related:

• LA 2007: Schwarzenegger checks out the VW up! space blue
• LA 2007: Volkswagen Space up! Blue

[Source: Webcastr]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Hydrogen, Volkswagen, LA Auto Show, Green Daily

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly likes to look green when new cars are displayed. I remember the excitement when he arrived at the unveiling of the Tesla Roadster back in the summer of 2006. Sometimes, of course, the Governator’s green sheen is less glorious, like with the GM flex-fuel vehicles controversy. But, at the LA Auto Show this week, Governor Schwarzenegger was happy to visit the Volkswagen booth to check out the new space up! blue concept car.

Also at the VW booth, Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen of America, Inc., discussed more about what VW plans to do with clean diesels in the U.S. in the near future. As AutoblogGreen readers probably know, VW will bring clean diesel TDI engines to all 50 states, starting with the Jetta Sedan and Jetta SportWagen. The release date for the Jetta TDI was recently pushed back to summer 2008.

[Source: Volkswagen]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Hydrogen, Volkswagen, LA Auto Show, Green Daily

Click the space up! blue for a high-res gallery

Revision 3 of the Volkswagen up! concept family makes it debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. Taking the larger four-door version that bowed in Tokyo last month as starting point, the space up! blue adds the first implementation of a high temperature fuel cell to the mix. Propulsion energy for the electric motor comes from an array of lithium ion batteries that can yield a range of up to 65 miles on a full charge. In the same manner as the Ford Airstream concept, the batteries can be recharged either via a plug or the fuel cell stack. Volkswagen’s high temperature fuel cell stack is claimed to be less expensive to produce than other designs while offering greater efficiency. In the case of this concept, the combined range of the fuel cell and battery system is 220 miles and more energy can be added via the roof top solar panel.

[Source: Volkswagen]

To the Point: The space up! blue

Clean Drive Revolution “Made in Germany”

Volkswagen presents the first car in the world with high-temperature fuel cell

space up! blue covers downtown distances with pure battery drive

• Wolfsburg / Los Angeles, November 2007. Powertrain revolution in California: Volkwagen is presenting the space up! blue concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show (November 14 to 25) as a world exclusive - a compact, self-confident zero emissions van in the style of the legendary Volkswagen Samba Bus. On board: the world’s first high temperature fuel cell and an array of twelve lithium-ion batteries. When the electric motor (45 kW / 61 PS) of the space up! blue is driven exclusively by battery, a range of 65 miles is possible - enough to handle nearly all distances in downtown areas. In the scenario of tomorrow’s world, the four-seat Volkswagen is advancing to become the ideal vehicle for anyone who wants to drive - completely emissions-free - to work, recreation, school or university or just shopping.
• Energy is “refueled” either via an electrical outlet or by the Volkswagen high-temperature fuel cell. In the latter case, the car’s range is extended an additional 155 miles. This makes it possible to drive up to 220 miles on a single “energy charge”. Aside from this, the microvan utilizes another energy source: the sun. And indeed with a large solar panel on the roof. It supplies up to 150 Watt of energy that is also fed into the battery.
• With its new high temperature fuel cell (HT-FC) Volkswagen is introducing a system that represents a turning point in research on fuel cells for mass production. That is because, the HTFC offers crucial advantages compared to all other fuel cell systems: considerably lower weight, significantly greater everyday utility, substantially lower price, and therefore clearly the better chances of becoming a reality someday as a mass produced technology. The high temperature fuel cell was developed at a dedicated research center founded by Volkswagen in Germany.
• With its concept car being shown in Los Angeles, Europe’s most successful car producer is introducing the third variant of its “New Small Family” within just two months. Like the city specialist, the up!, already introduced at the IAA in Frankfurt, and the space up! presented in Tokyo, the space up! blue is a small space wonder too. Over a length of just 144.9 inches, a height of 61.8 inches and a width of 64.2 inches, it offers the space of a considerably larger vehicle. The clever space concept of the space up! blue - which is 1,090 kilograms “light” despite the fuel cell and batteries - is largely due to the layout of the powertrain. Its emissions-free electric motor operates - as did the engines of the Beetle and the Bulli (Microbus) at one time - in the rear. Also housed in the rear, under the rear seat to be exact, are the lithium-ion batteries. The high temperature fuel cell, on the other hand, is located at the front of the car.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Volkswagen, LA Auto Show, Green Daily

The Volkswagen up! concept car (whether in the original or the space or the possible fuel cell variant) is popular not only with AutoblogGreen readers who wouldn’t mind buying one (or two) from VW but also with people in the industry. Last night, the up! won the Concept Car of the Year honor at the Autocar Awards. According to the Newspress release, Autocar editor Charles Hallett said the up! was “a brilliant concept car - but, importantly, a concept car that will become a reality. We like to think of it as a 21st Century Beetle - a stylish car that will provide affordable motoring for all, both here and in the developing world.” Whatever the third variant is, we’ll be seeing it later this week from the LA Auto Show.

[Source: Newspress]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Volkswagen, Green Daily

According to some educated guessing at WorldCarFans, Volkswagen’s Up! concept that is coming our way in the next few years will be renamed the Lupo, reviving a name that went out of production in 2005. WCF says they have official confirmation from sources that their guess is true, and that “Up!” will indeed form the middle of the Lupo name (see also: IROC and Scirocco). There’s still time before we find out for sure, as the production Up!/Lupo isn’t expected to be unveiled until the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2011.

[Source: WorldCarFans]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: MPG, Volkswagen

Last fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show,Volkswagen unveiled their entry in the micro-car derby, the up! Yes, the name is goofy, but the car is cute and is apparently headed for production in 2010. AutoExpress has some contacts deep within Wolfsburg who have reported that the production up! will come down the assembly line looking almost identical to the concept. The basic shape of the 11.5 ft body is virtually unchanged although the head and tail lights the bumper will be revised. VW engineers are working on a pair of 600cc turbocharged two cylinder engines for the up! fueled by a choice of gasoline or diesel. The goal is to get both models under 100g/km of CO₂ emissions and achieve combined fuel economy of 78mpg (U.S.). Plans call for up!s with 3 and 5 doors as well as a slightly larger MPV version. In order to help meet the EU CO₂ emissions rules, other brands within the VW group will also get cars based on the same platform with versions in developing countries starting as low as $8,000. It’s not going to be a challenger for the Tata Nano, but then again it’s not meant to be.

[Source: AutoExpress]

 

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid