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At the turn of the year, Volkswagen is offering a glimpse of the company’s future mobile quick charging station. It can be set up flexibly and independent of the power supply wherever it is needed: for example, in public parking lots in the city, on company premises, or as a temporary charging point at large-scale events. The mobile charging station works according to the principle of a power bank – which is familiar to many people with smartphones – but for electric vehicles instead. The charging capacity of up to 360 kWh enables up to 15 e-vehicles, including members of Volkswagen’s new ID. family,1 to be charged in stand-alone operation. Thanks to quick charging technology, the charging process2 only takes 17 minutes on average. If the energy content of the integrated battery set is less than 20 percent, the depleted charging station is simply exchanged for a charged one. If, however, it is permanently attached to the power supply with up to 30 kW via alternating current, the battery pack perpetually recharges itself. In case the charging process is based on renewable power supply, the charging station furthermore allows the temporary storage of sustainably generated power, such as solar or wind energy – and therefore CO2-neutral mobility.

The first mobile quick charging stations will be set up as early as the first half of 2019 in Volkswagen’s hometown as part of a pilot project, and will support the expansion of a charging infrastructure in the urban area. As of 2020, the charging station will also be implemented in other cities and communities.

Thomas Schmall, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group Components, says: “The mobile charging stations are a decisive step toward an efficient network of charging points. They can be set up anywhere as required – with or without connection to the power supply. This flexibility enables a completely new approach for the rapid expansion of the charging infrastructure. Cities can, for example, find out the most suitable places for a permanent charging point before making major investments in developing the network. In addition, it will be possible to set up a large number of charging stations temporarily – exactly when and where they are needed.”

The mobile charging stations can be set up at defined points, for example, spread out across a city. The flexible locations can be easily found via the Internet or apps. Each charging station enables DC quick charging with up to 100 kW. In addition to electric cars, e-bikes can also be charged. Up to four vehicles can be charged simultaneously: two with DC and two with AC connections. The total battery storage capacity of up to 360 kWh is sufficient for up to 15 e-vehicles. There is also the possibility of connecting to the power supply directly, allowing the station to be charged with up to 30 kW via alternating current by means of a permanent standard grid connection. This enables charging points for electric vehicles to be set up quickly and simply, without any structural changes or major financial outlay. The battery pack in the charging station can be recharged around the clock thanks to the direct power connection. This time-independent recharging, and therefore buffering of power, also considerably reduces the strain on the power supply at peak periods.

“Our mobile charging stations offer a further crucial advantage,” says Mark Möller, Head of Technical Development at Volkswagen Group Components. “It is only when an electric car is charged with sustainably generated power that it can claim CO2-neutral mobility. Our charging station is the first to offer the possibility of temporarily storing sustainably generated power.” For example, the charging station can be charged specifically with solar or wind energy, which is then transmitted to the electric vehicles during charging. Technically, the mobile charging column is based on the battery pack of the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB). On the one hand, this offers the advantage of quick scalability and, on the other hand, the charging station allows batteries from electric vehicles to have a second life. This is because a battery loses charging capacity over time. If a vehicle battery has a defined, reduced residual capacity, it is exchanged. If this battery subsequently passes a thorough analysis, it can be reused in a mobile charging station.

An efficient network of charging points is regarded as one of the basic infrastructural prerequisites for convincing customers to buy electric vehicles such as the Volkswagen brand’s future I.D. family.1 Accomplishing this is one of the major challenges Volkswagen Group Components and others must tackle to ensure the breakthrough of e-mobility. As of January 1, 2019, the Components division is an independent business unit within the Volkswagen Group. The mobile charging station is an in-house development with the goal of developing a closed life cycle for the battery. The start of production is planned for 2020.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Volkswagen has set an important course for the future in 2018: As the first model of the future ID. family, the zero-emission compact ID. has reached the final phase of series development. In addition, with the avant-garde ID. VIZZION saloon and the racing car ID. R Pikes Peak, Volkswagen demonstrated two more fascinating facets of electric mobility. SUVs are booming worldwide: Volkswagen followed this trend in 2018 with nine new Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) – from the urban T-Cross4 to the Touareg brand flagship. Various models of different segments like the new Virtus (South America), the attractive up! GTI (Europe) or the Jetta (North America), however, made it clear that Volkswagen serves every region of the world with specific cars. This has resulted in great success: Between January and November, unit sales rose by around 280,000 year-on-year to 5.7 million Volkswagen vehicles.

Electric offensive: In March, with the ID. VIZZION, Volkswagen presented a completely automated driving saloon of the future: emission-free, range of up to 665 kilometres, can be operated via voice and gesture control and able to learn thanks to artificial intelligence. A car as a portal to the future. Three months later, with the ID. R Pikes Peak, Volkswagen revealed the purely dynamic side of electric mobility: on 24 June it pulverised the all-time record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – the legendary Race to The Clouds (Colorado/USA). It also overtook all racing cars with combustion engines ever to have started. In December, the first media representatives were able to experience live what the future of production vehicles feels like: they accompanied Volkswagen engineers on board the ID. during test drives in South Africa. The ID. is scheduled to be launched on the market in 2020.

SUV offensive: Charismatic Sport Utility Vehicles enjoy worldwide success. At the same time, Volkswagen further expanded its range of these all-rounders. The third generation of the Volkswagen brand flagship Touareg made its international debut in March with numerous technical highlights. Specially designed for China, Volkswagen also presented the particularly spacious Tharu3 (Chinese compact class), which is tailored to families, and the Tayron3 (Chinese intermediate class), which is positioned above it. The large Teramont3 and an extended and specified version of the T-Roc for the Chinese market also celebrated their debuts in China in 2018. Below the T-Roc, the new T-Cross, the first small-vehicle SUV from Volkswagen to date, was launched on an international scale in November.

As a sister model to the Teramont, the seven-seater Atlas3) is built in the USA. On this basis, Volkswagen presented the new Atlas Cross Sport1 at the New York International Auto Show (March) – a dynamic five-seater with a hybrid drive for the metropolises of North America. The series version is scheduled to be launched on the American market in 2019. The Atlas Tanoak1 – the first pickup to be based on the innovative modular transverse matrix (MQB) – presented at the same time has been part of a trial to date. As the second MQB pickup, the Tarok Concept1 presented at the São Paulo International Motor Show caused a sensation in November.It has a loading area that can be extended into the vehicle interior and is scheduled to be launched on the Brazilian market first in the foreseeable future.

Specialities for the world: With the up! GTI, a sporty vehicle in the original GTI format was launched in 2018. 85 kW/115 PS and low weight provide a lot of driving fun. This means that the GTI family comprising Golf GTI5, Polo GTI6 and up! GTI is now complete. The Jetta, which has been produced 17.5 million times, is one of the most successful compact saloons ever. Volkswagen presented the seventh generation in Detroit this year. It is now based on the MQB and was specially developed for the US market. The new Virtus is even more compact. This MQB saloon is similar to the Polo, is produced in Brazil and was launched there first.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

The Sharan is back in showrooms now, following a host of technical enhancements. The long-distance van, so popular with families, boasts numerous innovative safety features as standard, making it one of the most advanced vehicles in its segment. For a particularly exclusive look, the Sharan is now also available in the new “Black Style” special model.

Driver assistance systems are of crucial importance for a long-distance, family vehicle like the Sharan. As such, all trim levels for the updated Sharan include the “Lane Assist” system as standard, as well as the “Front Assist” area monitoring system, which warns the driver when getting too close to the vehicle in front and applies the brakes within system limits.

To ensure maximum safety throughout this dark and rainy time of year, the Sharan also has an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, daytime running lights and a rain sensor for the windscreen wipers. A multi-functional steering wheel is also available as standard.

Powerful and efficient turbo engines

The highest performance level is the new 130-kW / 177-PS1, 2.0 TDI four-cylinder diesel engine, closely followed by the 110-kW / 150-PS2, 2.0 TDI and the equally powerful 1.4 TSI3 four-cylinder petrol engine. This is now fitted with a gasoline particulate filter (GPF). All the engines meet the latest Euro 6d-TEMP emission standards. The engine’s power is applied to the road via a 6-speed manual or 6/7-speed DSG gearbox, depending on the trim level and power unit selected. All TDI engines are also available with 4Motion four-wheel drive as an option.

The new Sharan “Black Style” special model

Exclusive, dynamic and black: the new “Black Style” special model sees Volkswagen enhance the Sharan range. It can now be ordered with the Comfort and Highline trim levels. A new black roof, with black roof rails and the “Black Style” logo, available exclusively with this special model, provide an individual, elegant appearance. The interior is equally impressive: in particular, the comfortable two-tone leather seats in matching Bonanza Titanium Black emphasise the exclusive interior features.

The “Active Lighting System” provides more light in the dark. It consists of “Dynamic Light Assist” and the so-called “dynamic cornering light with predictive controls”. If requested, “Dynamic Light Assist” switches to main beam at speeds of more than 60 km/h and main beam then remains active. The LED modules are controlled using a camera in such a way that they provide optimal illumination of the road, without blinding other road users. The “dynamic cornering light with predictive controls” improves illumination of corners.

An overview of other “Black Style” features:

“Odessa” 17-inch alloy wheels
Tinted rear side windows and rear windscreen, which absorb up to 65 percent of the light
Black mirror caps
Black window trims

The Sharan “Black Style” is available from 42,375 Euro in the Comfortline trim level and is available exclusively in Germany.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

For 45 years the Passat has been on course for the future. Originally launched in 1973, it is now sold on every continent. Volkswagen has built more than 29 million Passat vehicles in eight generations so far. 2019 will see the start of a new evolutionary stage of the most successful mid-size car ever, as the Passat becomes the first in its segment to break through the barrier of 30 million units.

1973: A decade of fantastic music really takes off. The brothers Angus and Malcolm Young found AC/DC. Pink Floyd releases their timeless album “The Dark Side of the Moon”. All songs of the album could be heard on the radio of a new Volkswagen: the first Passat. A hatchback saloon with two or four doors and a large boot lid. More variable than any Volkswagen before. With a length of 4,190 mm and therefore slightly shorter than a T-Roc today. And yet even the first Passat offered plenty of space. That was even more true when Volkswagen launched the Passat Variant in 1974.

By 2018, the Passat had grown to a length of up to 4,887 mm. With full-size features in the passenger compartment. At the same time, it has become a true reflection of progress in the field of automotive engineering: all pioneering technological developments – from the anti-lock brake system through to modern, intelligently networked assist systems – have accompanied the Passat over the years. As an all-rounder tailored to the needs of families and business users, it has also become the most successful mid-size and company car in the world. There are independent versions and derivative models in Europe, China and the USA; together they form one of the most important Volkswagen product pillars.

As it celebrates its 45th anniversary, the Passat is again offered as a saloon and Variant. Both body versions will not just be available with a classic combustion engine, but also with plug-in hybrid drive345, which temporarily turns the Passat into an electrically powered zero-emission vehicle for urban driving in particular.

The production preparations for the new Passat are currently taking place behind the scenes at the Emden plant in North Germany. The countdown for the market launch of the next evolutionary stage of this product line will already start at the end of January 2019 – a Passat with new drive, light, assist and Infotainment technologies and a new level of online services. The first target: breaking the 30-million barrier. After the Golf (35 million) and before the Beetle (21.5 million), this makes the Passat one of the three most successful models in the history of Volkswagen.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Breath-taking all-time record at the legendary hill climb on Pikes Peak with a pioneering, fully-electric drivetrain and a spectacular look – the Volkswagen ID. R Pikes Peak has already justified the use of many superlatives. The 500-kW (680-PS) prototype sports car has now been crowned “Race Car of the Year” twice – by specialist German magazine Auto Bild Motorsport and by British car magazine BBC Top Gear. This recognition from two renowned and high-circulation magazines follows a year of success on the track.

Back at the end of June, Romain Dumas (F) set a new all-time record of 7:57.148 minutes with the ID. R at the “Race to the Clouds” on Pikes Peak, smashing the previous record for the extremely demanding, 19.99-kilometre hill climb by 16 seconds and made headlines around the world in the process. This triumph made the ID. R the first fully-electric racing car to come out on top in direct sporting competition with cars powered by combustion engines. The ID. R is the motorsport forerunner of the ID. family of electric cars, which Volkswagen will launch in 2019.

“We wanted to achieve two things with the ID. R. Set a new record on Pikes Peak and show how dynamic, emotional and powerful electromobility can be,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets, who received the award from Auto Bild Motorsport at the formal gala during the Essen Motor Show in Germany on Friday evening. “When it comes to the sporting result, we far exceeded our expectations and completed the fastest assent of Pikes Peak in the history of the race. However, having these two popular magazines from Germany and Great Britain acknowledge this effort and crown the ID. R their ‘Race Car of the Year’ underlines the fact that we have also achieved our goal from a communication point of view. We are delighted with these awards.”

“Technological milestone”, “complete and honed” –
praise aplenty for the ID. R

In justifying their choice of “Race Car of the Year”, the editors at Auto Bild Motorsport were not sparing with their praise: “It is the fastest hill climb car ever built – and at the same time a technological milestone.” The BBC Top Gear magazine also focussed on the innovative concept. “Powered by electricity not only to defy oxygen starvation at altitude, but also develop the instant torque necessary for teleport-level acceleration. So complete, so honed, surely the ID. R is now the template for success at Pikes Peak,” wrote BBC Top Gear magazine.

From 30 November to 09 December, the ID. R Pikes Peak will be on display at the Volkswagen stand (hall 3, stand 3A43) at the Essen Motor Show, Europe’s leading fair for sporty vehicles.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

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