volkswagen Archives – The Green Optimistic

Volkswagen’s ID Electric Car offers 3 battery sizes, starting less than $30,000

Matthew Fiala — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 12:12:12 +0000

The Volkswagen ID Electric Car is anticipated to be a Tesla Model 3 rival. Although, no car company, including Volkswagen, has yet to produce an electric car that truly rivals an equivalent Tesla. Let’s take a closer look at the ID sedan that has no official yet. The new electric car will offer customers a […]

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Volkswagen I.D. BUZZ and CROZZ May be Built In The U.S.

Arsenij Percov — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 20:07:52 +0000

Volkswagen plans to build the first two of its new all-electric vehicles in the United States, the company’s North American chief told Autocar. The cars are I.D. CROZZ and I.D. BUZZ. The I.D CROZZ is roughly the same size as a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan compact crossover. It combines an 83-kWh lithium-ion battery pack with a […]

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Carmakers Attempting to Greenwash Diesel In Europe

Guest Contributor — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 05:00:54 +0000

Europe offers a unique perspective on the idea of replacing diesel engines with more environmentally friendly ones. This is due to the fact that taxes are lower on diesel fuel than on gasoline. This has led not only to a lower cost of driving fossil fuel powered engines but also to the fact that approx. […]

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The VW Bus is Back with an Autonomous, 350hp Electric Version!

Nicholas Say — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 14:08:22 +0000

Volkswagen is planning to reintroduce the microbus, and this time it’s going to be a green dream machine. They have decided to call the new model the I. D. Buzz, and it is an amazing EV concept car. While only in the concept phase, the new VW bus made its debut at the recent 2017 […]

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Volkswagen to Invest $11 Billion in Electric Car Battery Factory

Courtney Lepping — Tue, 31 May 2016 18:38:07 +0000

Volkswagen wishes to make an electric car comeback by investing $11 billion in a battery factory. After suffering through the backlash of consumers who discovered the company’s diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen plans to produce 1 million electric and plug-in hybrid cars per year by 2025. In the past Volkswagen relied on turbodiesel engines. Now, Volkswagen […]

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Mercedes-Benz Air Conditioning is Greener and Safer

Benji Jerew — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 20:46:19 +0000

In the 1990’s automotive air conditioning systems started switching over from CFC R-12 dichlorodifluoromethane to HFC R-134a tetrafluoroethane, which has significantly less of an ozone-depletion potential. Still, R-134a has a significant global warming potential (GWP), measuring 1,300 on the scale, which has prompted regulators to move for its discontinuation. New mandates specify that new vehicle […]

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Green Car of the Year Won’t Go to a Diesel Model This Year

Annika Tostengard — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 15:58:00 +0000

Every year, Green Car Journal picks the most environmentally-friendly vehicle from the past year and awards them the title of “Green Car of the Year”. The group considers the car industry as a whole to determine which model should get the lauded title. While Volkswagen’s diesel models have twice won the award in the past, but this […]

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Electric Vehicle Battery Prices Forced Down by VW

Benji Jerew — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 20:22:38 +0000

Demand and deployment for electric vehicles remains low, but automakers tend to agree that the technology could be the biggest shift in automotive technology since the invention of the automatic transmission. The problem, of course, that electric vehicle batteries are far more expensive than any conventional powertrain. A brand new four-cylinder engine might cost $4,000, […]

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Volkswagen Electric Vehicles’ Range to Triple in the Future

Benji Jerew — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:42:46 +0000

Currently, Volkswagen electric vehicles, as well as every other electric vehicle, use conventional lithium-ion battery technology. On the energy storage level, practically the only thing that separates the Volkswagen electric vehicles from Tesla Motors electric vehicles, such as the e-Golf and Model S is the configuration and capacity of the lithium-on battery pack. Indeed, the […]

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Volkswagen Ten-Speed To Deliver Better Fuel Economy

Benji Jerew — Tue, 20 May 2014 19:18:39 +0000

Automakers are tackling fuel economy in every way imaginable. Today, we’re talking about Volkswagen’s new ten-speed transmission. The world’s first production-vehicle, Mercedes-Benz’s 1885 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, was graced with a single-speed transmission and a belt-clutch, but not much more. Of course, at something like 0.9 hp, this was all that was necessary to get the Motorwagen […]

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Audi A7 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Prototype, Testing in Progress

Benji Jerew — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:21:35 +0000

Automotive alternative fuels like hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could actually be easier to implement than electric vehicles, but still suffer from the same infrastructure problems. Actually, electric vehicle infrastructure is becoming more commonplace, but it’s still a game of Catch-22. Comparing electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles boils down to powertrain expenses [hydrogen is […]

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VW Developing CO2 Air Conditioning System, Rejects EU Law for 2017

Benji Jerew — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:05:28 +0000

A new refrigerant developed by Honeywell and Dupont, HFO-1234yf, will be required by law to replace R-134a, but Volkswagen is rejecting this and developing its own carbon dioxide air conditioning system. The new refrigerant, HFO-1234yf, is supposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by something like 99.7%. In spite of a new law in the EU […]

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Too Expensive, Volkswagen Focusing Elsewhere

Benji Jerew — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:12:33 +0000

With all the hype on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, European automaker Volkswagen is focusing on other, more profitable projects. While hydrogen fuel cell technology has been around for decades, it has only just now started to become possible to put them into vehicles. Some automakers are aiming for 2015 to get a production vehicle in […]

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VW’s Electric E-Up! to be Sold in EU, Not US

Benji Jerew — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:07:55 +0000

A new electric vehicle debuted on Thursday at the Geneva Motor Show, the Volkswagen E-Up!, that isn’t going to be sold outside of Europe. The new Volkswagen E-Up! will start sales in the EU early next year, and hopes are high for the little electric vehicle. It isn’t a sporty car by any means, seating […]

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Volkswagen’s 188mpg Plug-In Hybrid Golf MK7, Production Set for 2014

Benji Jerew — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:13:32 +0000

Hybrid technology is alive and well in the halls of German automaker Volkswagen / Audi. Development of the Audi e-tron and Volkswagen BlueMotion has been focusing on increased fuel economy and performance, including development of hybrid and electric vehicles and alternative fuels. To that end, the new MQB platform, used in both the Audi A3 […]

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Volkswagen Sees Electrification as the Path Forward

Benji Jerew — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:44:37 +0000

As the price of fuel continues to rise and emissions regulations become more stringent, automakers are scrambling to get their vehicles up to par. In order to reduce emissions, vehicles need to reduce their fuel consumption. To that end, automakers are making use of lighter materials, improving their internal combustion engine [ICE] efficiency, and exploring […]

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HomePlug's EV Charging Standard Adopted by German Automakers

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:29:36 +0000

Several German automakers have reached an agreement towards the future standard for EV charging. Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen all agreed on HomePlug's Green PHY charging technology, which is able to send data over high voltage cables, simplifying the circuitry.

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Volkswagen Test Drives Golf Blue E-Motion Electric Car on The Streets of Berlin

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 04 May 2010 18:04:35 +0000

Not wanting to stay behind their competition (such as Renault-Nissan), Volkswagen is beginning to develop pure electric cars. Their new Golf Blue e-motion has been presented by Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, member of VW's development board, and the German minister of transportation.

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VW Presents Its New Coupe Hybrid Concept at NAIAS in Detroit

Cristi — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:58:04 +0000

2010 comes with no surprises anymore as it continues the trend imposed last year, when most of the manufacturers presented electric vehicles and hybrid or plug-in hybrids.

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Skoda Planning to Build Electric Car Based on VW's E-Up

Cristi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:01:12 +0000

After the presentation of the Volkswagen E-up car, Skoda plans to build it's own electric vehicle in the coming years starting from this concept. As VW already has the technology it should be easy for the Czech manufacturer to get on the market with a brand new EV.

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IAV to Release On-the-fly Charging System for Electric Cars in 3 Years

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:08:54 +0000

A German supplier of electronics and powertrain design to most of the major automakers for the last 25 years gives a solution to both the battery and the car manufacturers. The company is called IAV (Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkehr), and their solution is to charge the electric cars on-the-go through electromagnetic induction.

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First Affordable Mass Produced Electric Car in the World Comes from Volkswagen

Florin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:17:43 +0000

In Frankfurt - Germany, Europe's biggest car manufacturer, Volkswagen and the Japanese group Toshiba signed an agreement to develop the new VW electric cars together.

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VW Equipping Future Cars With Heat Recovery Systems

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:09:32 +0000

The International Thermoelectric Society website reported that Volkswagen showed a prototype vehicle equipped with a thermoelectric generator, recovering the dissipated heat energy and converting it into electricity. The prototype has been shown at the "Thermoelektrik - Eine Chance FÃƒÆ’¼r Die Atomobillindustrie?" meeting held in Berlin in October 2008.

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Volkswagen Launches Golf TDI Hybrid

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:22:29 +0000

Volkswagen has made a tradition from launching new versions of their famous little sporty car. This time they want to beat Toyota’s Prius, the long-time established standard in the hybrid car industry. VW says they will make a diesel version of Golf, with a smaller and smarter engine (of only 1.2L), aided by an electric […]

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