Euro Motorworks

The company that created one of the most popular and iconic vehicles in history is trying to once again change the auto industry. Volkswagen changed the automotive world when it introduced the Beetle, the company’s original car for the people. This time the company plans to make another “people’s car,” but it will be a green car for the people.

The company’s first step toward becoming the green car leader is the introduction of their line of TDI diesel vehicles. It wasn’t too many years ago that diesel brought to mind visions of noisy, smoke-belching trucks zooming along the interstate. Volkswagen is changing that way of thinking with its line of diesel cars that produce fewer greenhouse gasses than most hybrid vehicles without the loss of range or power that plague current hybrids. Volkswagen currently offers their Touareg, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, and Golf models with the TDI diesel package.

While the engineers and designers at Volkswagen are to thank for the mechanical side of this innovation it’s the diesel industry itself that has brought about the fuel to make this possible. Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel was developed in the 1980’s, but didn’t become popular until the push for lower greenhouse emissions. Since 2007 use of the fuel has been mandated in the United States for all highway diesel vehicles. Volkswagen saw the potential for ULSD and set about to design a new engine to make the most of the technology. The result is the TDI diesel engine. TDI uses turbo-charging to make the engine more efficient, and direct injection to deliver the performance demanded by today’s driver. The result is a quick responding, powerful engine that outperforms many comparably sized gasoline engines, and gets a stingy 41-mpg on average. The engine is also quiet which has been a major concern in the diesel passenger car industry.

Volkswagen isn’t stopping there however, and their next project could revolutionize the 21^st century auto industry the way the Beetle did in the 20^th century.

Enter the VW E-Up! concept vehicle. The car was unveiled in September of 2009 with Volkswagen dubbing it the Beetle of the 21^st century, and like its famous predecessor it is a car full of new ideas. The new car is the smallest, lightest Volkswagen ever built, weighing in at just 2,387 pounds. The small cabin of the car has brought about changes like no dashboard to provide more leg room and an innovative 3+1 seating configuration that leaves the area behind the driver open for cargo and thereby creating more driver leg room. The most startling innovation in the E-Up! is its lightweight lithium-ion battery pack. Even though it weighs in at over 500 pounds the battery is powering the entire car. Some hybrid batteries weigh as much and just power around a third of the vehicle’s total output. The battery pack does its job well as it is able to generate 150 lb.-ft of torque and will speed the car to 60 mph in under 11 seconds. If more power is needed the car also features solar panels on the roof and sun visors to generate electrical power.

Volkswagen doesn’t dream that the car will gain the label of fine European automobile or see 21-million units on the world’s roadways like its famous predecessor, but does see the E-Up! as a viable alternative for city drivers and short-range commuters. The company’s introduction of the car does signal the industry that the former leader in automotive innovation is once-again poised to drive the industry into a green future.

For Indianapolis auto repair and service on Volkswagens visit Euromotorworks.com

Tags: Auto Repair Indianapolis, auto service indianapolis, volkswagen maintenance

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Auto Repair Indianapolis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.