A glimpse of tomorrow
In the land of the rising sun Volkswagen will be presenting their Cross Coupé concept as the ‘peoples’ car’ of tomorrow. The traction for the plug-in hybrid comes from the output of three motors, although it is only the two electric units powering the front and rear axles respectively which actually move the automobile.
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- The total output is of 265 horsepower (195 kW). With an averaged fuel consumption of 2.7 litres per hundred driven kilometres the 1,748 kilos of automobile built in is a creditable response to the ineluctable rise in fuel costs.
The turbo-charged petrol engine with 150 horsepower (110 kW) and 210 Nm of torque on board the Cross Coupé serves solely as the plant generating the power required by the electric motor at the front of the car, with 54 horsepower (40 kW) and 180 Nm of torque. In all-wheel-drive mode… which can be called up by the twist of a knob on the central console… the second motor at the rear can be activated to produce a further 116 horsepower (85 kW) and 270 Nm of torque. Thus the total output is of 265 horsepower (195 kW). With an averaged fuel consumption of 2.7 litres per hundred driven kilometres the 1,748 kilos of automobile built in Wolfsburg is a creditable response to the ineluctable rise in fuel costs. On e-power alone the Cross Coupé would have a range of 45 kilometres.
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- The transmission is handled by a seven-stage dual-clutching system. The concept car shown in is said to reach a hundred kilometres an hour in seven seconds.
Petrol powered generator
When the journey has extended to 855 kilometres it is time to fill the tank again. In the case of the Cross Coupé this means either recourse to a conventional filling station to load up 55 litres of petrol or re-connecting with the 230 volt domestic electrical outlet. If there is no power plug immediately available it will be possible for the driver to press a button and start the petrol engine to re-charge the 9.8 kWh lithium-ion battery. This is located in the middle tunnel where there would conventionally be the drive shaft and the re-charging also benefits from recovered energy from both the front and rear axles. The transmission is handled by a seven-stage dual-clutching system. The concept car shown in is said to reach a hundred kilometres an hour in seven seconds and achieve a maximum speed of 201 kilometres an hour. If the auto is running on electricity alone then the top speed off the 4x4 is 120 kilometres per hour.
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- With a length of 4.34 metres and a width of 1.87 metres the Cross Coupé is slightly longer than the Golf but also shorter than the Tiguan.
Bridging a gap
With a length of 4.34 metres and a width of 1.87 metres the Cross Coupé is slightly longer than the Golf but also shorter than the Tiguan. It has a wheel-base of 2.63 metres, 52 millimetres more than the Golf Plus. There are four individual seats with integrated head-rests and they are all suited for fully-grown adult occupants. There is adequate knee and head room and also space for 380 litres of baggage. If the rear seats are not required they can be folded down to increase the loading capacity to 1,230 litres with a maximum weight of 450 kilos.
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- The plug-in hybrid runs on 20 inch light-metal wheels with tyres sized 265 and has a well organized cockpit with two colour displays and a thoughtfully reduced number of switches and knobs.
Pointing the way
This is the first public presentation of an automobile constructed on the new Modular Transverse Matrix platform. The new forward section with long bonnet shows not only where the technology is heading for Volkswagen but also hints at the direction VW design is taking. The Cross Coupé concept runs on 20 inch light-metal wheels with tyres sized 265. The plug-in hybrid has a well organized cockpit with two colour displays and a thoughtfully reduced number of switches and knobs. Next to the starter button is one which commands the car to run on electricity alone and another to activate re-charging of the battery. A dial allows the driver to select the drive modes ‘Sport’, ‘City’ and ‘Off-road’.
