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June 27, 2008
Green Perfomance: VW Golf Twin Drive
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Amidst all the brouhaha about alternate powerplants from the major automakers, VW has been quietly developing and testing a dual-engined hybrid. The Golf Twin Drive runs off a primary 84 hp plug-in electric motor that’s supplemented by a 174 hp turbo-diesel that kicks in when the electric gets to the end of its 30-mile range. VW has been relatively tight-lipped so far about the numbers, but on the car’s recent drive from Potsdam to Berlin and back for an appearance at the Automobile Forum, it got an impressive 94 mpg on combined electric and diesel power. It’s not likely to hit the North American market anytime soon, but VW is currently testing a fleet of 20 vehicles and considering putting the Twin Drive system into production as early as 2010. See more pics below the jump.
Source: Carscoop
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bug
Nov 19, 2008 at 6:47 am
Whats the Germans fascination with twins and their differences? Anyone seen the ad yet with the twins? One looking for a jetta and the other a passat, Joseph Mengle spring to mind, anyone?
kap0w
Jun 30, 2008 at 3:07 pm
30 miles would get me to and from work a few days in a row. It would get me to the grocery store and back a few times too. If it means the battery pack doesn’t take up the entire car, that’s pretty cool, but at the same time, it seems like a 174 HP engine is a little overkill for a car this big with an electric drive system as well – could they have dropped in something a little smaller and made it run even further? I don’t know exactly how this is different from the other hybrids out there, but something about the KW and battery charge gauges does it for me.
GTwildfire
Jun 30, 2008 at 3:33 am
the 30 mile electric range is pathetic. They could and should do better or why bother?