Volkswagen unveils all-electric Golf Twin Drive
The VW Golf Twin Drive is all-electric and can be plugged in
Author: Robin Brown
Published: 27 June 2008
Volkswagen has unveiled an all-electric concept version of its Golf hatchback which uses a small combustion engine to charge a battery. Named Twin Drive by VW, the electric Golf can be charged from the mains and has a range of 31 miles (50km) on electric power only.
The models is the reverse of a typical hybrid engtne, which uses electric motor power to boost a combusion engine. The Twin Drive system instead uses the combustion engine to charge the electric motor. Lithium-ion batteries are stored in the boot.
Stop-start technology and regenerative braking are also used to boost power, while a multimedia screen keeps the driver informed of energy usage of the 122bhp diesel engine and an 82bhp electric motor
Volkswagen reckons that a test fleet of such plug-in hybrids could be on the cards by 2010, but there's no official word on production models. Nevertheless, VW boss Martin Winterkorn is on record as saying "the future belongs to all-electric cars."
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