Posted on Thursday 21 February 2008
Yet another carmaker has revealed plans for a diesel-electric hybrid concept car for next month’s Geneva Motor Show, the latest being Volkswagen and its ultra-efficient hybrid Golf. We’ve already reported about BMW’s new X5 ActiveHybrid concept and before that the Peugeot‘s 308 oil-burning hybrid, and now we have info about a Golf hatch that returns a remarkable 69.2mpg fuel consumption rating and emits just 89g of CO2 per km.
The car is almost production ready but according to VW it’s still a concept and there are still a number of other upcoming concept versions before the concept finally goes on sale. VW has in fact been testing hybrid vehicles as far back as the early ‘90s and more recently it showcased a diesel-electric hybrid at the 2004 Challenge Bibendum eco-car rally in Shanghai.
Also on show at the upcoming Geneva event will be the production-ready Scirocco coupe, an E85-compatible Passat Ecofuel, eco-friendly Sharan Bluemotion and the Passat CC.
Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to get on the market and hopefully it’s available in North America.
This is what hybrids should have been like in the first place. Don’t stick an electric motor to a thirsty V6 and claim you’re trying to save the planet (i.e. Lexus), go for an already economical engine and make it cleaner and even more frugal, and then sell at a price most people can afford.
This will be a big hit in the UK, as at 89gm/km this Golf would be exempt from road tax…unless the current government decides to backtrack on its earlier promises for low emissions vehicles. 69mpg will also be a big saver at the pumps, where a litre of diesel is currently £1.10 (over $2).
If anything, the Lexus hybrids are just a smart business move. Toyota knows that people are stupid enough to buy anything with the word hybrid in it’s name so they make fast and luxurious ones.
if anythng, toyota is the reason why hybrid technology nowadays is far enough to be considered for cars like a golf. keep in mind, that other car makers (like VW, mercedes, bmw) spend a lot of money on developing useless 700HP diesels for SUVs or V12 machines.
True but no one buys a Mercedes or BMW to get a hybrid. They’re luxury car makers, people expected fast powerful cars from them, not small underpowered efficient cars.