Displaying items by tag: Volkswagen

The verdict: As every SUV in the parking lot starts to look the same, the 2021 Volkswagen Arteon near-luxury mid-size hatchback stands out as a roomy, refined and refreshingly pleasant alternative for those willing to look beyond the mainstream sedan and SUV classes.

Versus the competition: Aside from its body style, the Arteon stands apart from other near-luxury mid-size vehicles with (mostly) appealing tech and loads of room — but its premium price tag can be off-putting.

The Arteon, which debuted for model-year 2019 as the spiritual successor to Volkwagen’s CC sedan, got a few changes for 2021, including light exterior styling tweaks, an updated multimedia system and more upscale cabin materials.

As the only mid-size hatchback in the near-luxury class, the Arteon doesn’t have any direct competition, but Volkwagen says it’s often cross-shopped against sports sedans such as the Acura TLX, Kia Stinger and Nissan Maxima; see the models compared. The automaker also expects the Arteon to appeal to budget-minded shoppers interested in the more expensive Audi A7, from VW’s luxury brand. See them compared.

Punchy Power
Although the Arteon is in the A7’s extended family — and wears sleek and attractive curves reminiscent of its more upscale relative — it’s more of a distant cousin when it comes to road manners. The Arteon is all-around pleasant, but it never rises to exciting like the A7 and Kia Stinger do.

The Arteon’s sole powertrain is unchanged from last year: a 268-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It’s peppy and responsive from a stop, with smooth, timely shifts for power on demand. Choosing Sport mode amps up accelerator response and sharpens steering feel for a little more excitement.

I tested an SEL R-Line trim level with 4Motion all-wheel drive during two weeks of endless precipitation: rain, sleet, snow and ice. It was continuously able to find its legs, with the optional all-wheel-drive system seamlessly adjusting to the elements to provide appropriate traction. Tires always play an important role when snow is involved, and in this case our test car’s Continental ProContact TX all-season tires deserve some credit, too.

The Arteon’s standard adaptive suspension system provides good cushioning from rough roads without sacrificing handling; the hatchback zips through corners with an agile, controlled feeling that’s surprising in a vehicle this long. Overall, its confident handling and composed ride shine both on the highway and around town.

With front-wheel drive, the Arteon is EPA-rated 22/32/25 mpg city/highway/combined with premium gas; AWD drops that estimate to 20/31/24 mpg. That’s in line with competitors — which also prefer premium fuel — such as the front-drive Acura TLX (25 mpg combined) and the base rear-wheel-drive Kia Stinger (25 mpg combined). The V-6-only front-drive Nissan Maxima slightly trails them all, with a combined rating of 24 mpg.

An Unexpected Family Car
In the garages of families I know, a sedan is about as common as a luxury yacht. (Maybe I have the wrong kinds of friends … ) Nearly all the families I know drive an SUV or minivan, including myself; my own car is a minivan, which easily accommodates my family of five. Sedans and hatchbacks were not on my shopping list.

To gauge real-life livability, however, I try to shoehorn my family into everything I test, and, to my surprise, the Arteon can family very well. The backseat is wide and flat, with ample headroom and legroom for two adults to coexist comfortably — or in my case, three kids. Not an easy feat. With my twins’ big boosters in the outside seats and my 10-year-old on a smaller, backless booster in the middle, we fit with no complaining (perhaps an even more difficult feat).

For caregivers with kids in child-safety seats, the Arteon’s exposed Latch anchors make connection struggle-free, and its three top tether anchors were easy to find and use. Check out our Car Seat Check.

Yes, we would’ve had more wiggle room in a minivan or mid-size SUV, but we fit fine in the Arteon — even on a long drive. What’s more, the hatchback carried much more stuff than I expected. When we went sledding, the Arteon’s cargo area swallowed all our gear — large sleds, snacks, mittens, more mittens and bags of extra mittens — with room to spare.

The cargo area is very deep and has a nice wide opening for accommodating bulky items. Also, its hatchback setup gives the cargo area more height than a traditional trunk, so it can hold taller items. The backseat folds in a 60/40 split, and there’s a small center passthrough that’s handy for simultaneously carrying people and long, skinny items.

Manufacturer-provided cargo numbers back up my experience. The Arteon’s hatchback-style cargo area offers 27.2 cubic feet of space with all its seats in place — more than the Volkswagen Tiguan compact SUV, though that car seats seven.

Utility aside, the Arteon is also a nice place to be. Updates for 2021 give the cabin a premium vibe, with a handsome design in my test vehicle highlighted by attractive two-tone Nappa leather-trimmed seats, as well as brushed metal and glossy black trim. There’s also a new ambient lighting system with 30 selectable colors, which reveal themselves through translucent panels in the doors and console — kinda cool. The changes give it a more upscale feel overall than you’ll find in other VW cars, like the Passat or Jetta.

Controls
VW’s new MIB3 multimedia system joins the Arteon cabin, and there’s a lot to like about it — but not all of it.

First, the system’s standard 8-inch touchscreen is nestled into the dash within easy reach of the driver’s seat. The screen is responsive, and the system’s menus are straightforward. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard, and the integration is seamless. I also found that the system’s voice commands work accurately for navigation and audio functions.

The standard digital cockpit instrument panel was also helpful. Its 10-inch display offers a configurable presentation of vehicle information, including car status, navigation, driving data, phone information and driver assistance features. Having the full-screen navigation view right in front of my eyeballs was especially useful.

That said, a few things need work. While I appreciated the system’s large, traditional volume knob, its tuning knob is odd. It works for some functions, like changing regular radio stations, but does not work for satellite stations.

Also, some editors were disappointed by VW’s switch to touch-sensitive panels on the steering wheel and for climate control, versus traditional buttons and knobs. I mostly didn’t find these problematic to use, but I did struggle with one feature: a slider function for fan speed and temperature. I found it awkward and difficult to use with accuracy, especially compared with pressing a button or turning a dial. There is a workaround, however: To adjust most climate settings, once you’ve touched the button on the climate panel you can use either the touchscreen or the panel to make the adjustment.

Safety and Value

The Arteon is well equipped with standard safety features: Forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert are included on all trims. Available active safety features include lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability and automatic high-beam headlights.

My favorite Arteon safety feature is among the more low-tech ones: its backup camera. Because the lens is protected under the VW badge and pops out only when the transmission is in Reverse, the camera’s view was consistently clear and free from the snow, ice, salt, etc. that otherwise plagued my time with the car. After driving through more than one blizzard in the Arteon — and in other vehicles — I appreciated this small convenience feature, especially given the Arteon’s sloping roofline and small side windows, which hurt rear visibility.

Most trims of the Arteon got a little more expensive for 2021, but its base price of $38,190 is still within range of its competitors; it’s about the same price as the Nissan Maxima and a little less than the Acura TLX. It costs quite a bit more than the Kia Stinger, however, which starts at $34,135 (all prices include destination). Also, prices escalate quickly, with the top trim approaching $50,000.

The Arteon is classy in a class of its own, and offers shoppers an exclusive mix of luxury and utility — minus the seemingly inescapable, everyone-has-one SUV body style.

cars.com

Published in Volkswagen

VW's electric crossover succeeds at imitating the gas-powered competition but forgoes many of the things we like about EVs.

As electric cars begin to proliferate, we are seeing the auto industry figuring out the best way to build and sell battery-powered cars. Some take existing gasoline models, rip out their powertrains, and bolt in battery packs and electric motors. A few existing carmakers have started new EV-only brands to market purpose-built electrics. One brand is courting the attention and controversy that comes from putting a famous pony-car nameplate on an electric car. And then there are the startups whose big promises are only outdone by the cultlike devotion of their fans. Against this backdrop, VW's approach for the new ID.4 looks extremely logical and straightforward. The 2021 ID.4 is designed and engineered to be an electric crossover that matches the specifications, performance, and character of the best-selling gas vehicles in the United States: compact SUVs such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

Built on the VW Group's new MEB modular EV platform, the ID.4 has a 77.0-kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor and a 201-hp electric motor on the rear axle. While this layout is unusual for the compact crossover-SUV segment, the ID.4's dimensions make it a lot like the rest of the class. The VW's wheelbase is longer, but its length and width are within fractions of an inch of the RAV4's. The ID.4's design hardly advertises its electricness and isn't any more eye-catching than your average crossover. It's shaped like a two-box blob with conventional-looking headlights and taillights. The only bits of flair are in the grilleless face and the optional contrasting C-pillar trim.

HIGHS: Spacious interior, comfortable ride, quiet at speed.

The ID.4's primary controls are set up to mimic the experience of a gas-powered car. Sit down, turn a knob to put it in Drive, and you won't have to make any adjustments to your driving behavior. Let your foot off the brake and it creeps forward just like a gas car with a torque-converter automatic transmission. Lift off the accelerator and it continues to coast like a gas car with an automatic.

To get more braking from the electric motors requires putting the car into its "B" setting, but even in that mode the regenerative braking effect isn't aggressive enough to reliably slow the car with a lift off the accelerator or to bring the ID.4 to a complete stop. Volkswagen promises one-pedal driving in B mode, but our regular use of the brake pedal had us questioning the brand's definition of the term.

VW also touts ID.4's 201-hp electric motor as having about the same power as the base four-cylinder engines in many compact crossovers. Maybe so, but the ID.4 weighs 4698 pounds. That's a whopping 1000 pounds more than the gas-powered competition. With only 229 pound-feet of torque, the neck-snapping shove of instant torque we like so much in electric cars is largely missing. When merging or passing at highway speeds, the ID.4 feels sluggish. The run to 60 mph takes 7.6 seconds, and the quarter mile is complete in 16.0 seconds at 86 mph, on par with the quicker gasoline models in this segment but significantly slower than similarly sized EVs such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model Y. A more powerful dual-motor all-wheel-drive version of the ID.4 with around 300 horsepower will be available later this year and will likely bring the ID.4 closer to the snappy acceleration of other EVs.

LOWS: Unexciting to drive, anonymous styling, annoying infotainment.

If you are excited about the handling prospects of this rear-drive configuration, don't be. The ride is pleasingly firm and the steering is appropriately weighted, but there's little verve or joy to the driving dynamics. The ID.4 simply goes where it's pointed without complaining, which, to be fair, is what's expected of a small SUV. We recorded 0.85 g of grip on the skidpad and a stopping distance of 166 feet from 70 mph, average numbers for the class.

Driving the ID.4 is a largely serene experience. At 70 mph we measured a library-like 68 decibels, and the powertrain remains hushed under acceleration. The interior is airy and spacious, with a low beltline and a generous rear seat. There's no "frunk" as in many other EVs, but the cargo area behind the hatch is big, fitting eight carry-on suitcases with the rear seats up and 26 cases with the seats folded. The front seats are good for hours, and the driving position is natural, with good visibility. Storage cubbies abound, and rear-seat passengers enjoy their own USB ports and air vents.

The least conventional aspect of the ID.4 is the one you'd most hope to follow convention: the user interface. We're not fans of VW's latest infotainment software, which is overly reliant on the 12.0-inch touchscreen and doesn't provide enough physical controls for things you want quick access to such as heated seats and radio tuning. There are touch-sensitive sliders for the climate controls, sunshade, and volume adjustment, and haptic buttons for various menus. Even the few physical controls are strange. There are only two window controls on the driver's door panel, and you must press a finicky haptic switch to activate the rear windows. And the clean look of the white steering wheel isn't going to stay clean for long.

The driving experience in the ID.4 is so normal that it's easy to forget that there's nothing for you at a gas station except Flaming Hot Cheetos. The EPA claims a 250-mile range in combined driving, and we measured 190 miles in our real-world 75-mph highway range test done just above freezing temperatures. (Cold temps negatively impact battery range.) Refilling the VW's battery from empty takes about 7.5 hours on a typical 220V charger, and fast chargers can get you from 5 to 80 percent charge in a claimed 38 minutes. Thanks to Dieselgate, VW is investing heavily in charging infrastructure through its subsidiary, Electrify America. Buyers benefit from the scandal with three years of free charging from Electrify America's fast chargers.

Early adopters of new tech might be disappointed by the ID.4's lack of quirkiness. The ID.4 feels like it's trying to convince buyers that an EV can cost and provide the same experience as mainstream gas-powered vehicles. Pricing starts at $41,190, and our 1st Edition test car stickered for $45,190, which is within reach of loaded gas-powered compact crossovers, especially when you factor in thousands of dollars in federal tax credits.

Rather than an electric vehicle shaped like a compact SUV, this Volkswagen feels like a mainstream crossover that happens to have an electric motor and a battery pack. But the ID.4 lacks any distinct advantages over gas models, and it's missing the cool factor and instant-feeling acceleration of other EVs. VW is so determined to make the ID.4 normal that it seems to have forgotten that EVs can be weird, funky, and fun. The ID.4 is a quiet and comfortable transportation pod that will satisfy buyers looking for a quiet and comfortable transportation pod.

caranddriver.com

Published in Volkswagen
Saturday, 27 February 2021 05:52

Autonomous Volkswagen ID.Buzz announced

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has also officially confirmed that it will also offer an autonomous version of the future electric model ID. Buzz.

The German manufacturer has not announced many details so far, and among other things, it was announced that this vehicle will appear in 2025 and that it will have the technology developed by Argo AI.

A drawing of the vehicle was also published, which reveals LIDAR sensors on the roof, front bumper and sides.

The car will primarily be used to transport passengers in urban areas, while more details are yet to come.

As for the standard ID. Buzz model, its promotion is expected during 2022.

Published in Blog/News

Production of the first pre-series copies of ID.5 has begun, while the start of production of models intended for the market is expected in the second half of the year. The new model should be reminiscent of the ID.Crozz concept, and it is certainly a coupe version of the already known Volkswagen electric SUV - ID.4.

The German car giant Volkswagen continues with the offensive on the electric car market, so it has already started the production of the third electric model based on the MEB platform, reports zimo.dnevnik.hr.

Sales of the ID.3 model (which should play the role of an electric Golf on the market) began last year, followed by the compact ID.4 SUV. Several other models are in preparation, such as the family ID.6, whose photos were recently leaked in China, and which you can see here, and ID.2 is mentioned. However, the first comes next - ID.5, an attractive SUV in the form of a coupe.

As ID.5 is not yet official, there is no data on its performance, but according to rumors, this will be a coupe version of the ID.4 model, which should look like the ID Crozz concept.

Although it has not been officially presented yet, the German company confirmed that the production of pre-series models has already started, while the production of the final versions is expected in the second half of the year.

Interestingly, like the ID.3 model, the "five" will not be intended for the United States, but the primary market will be European.

In terms of options and performance, it is speculated that the figures will be similar to those on the ID.4 model. Thus, the 150 kW engine that drives the rear wheels is mentioned (versions with two engines and all-wheel drive will appear later), as well as the 77 kWh battery.

Given that the start of production is expected in the second half of 2021, it is clear that Volkswagen will not wait too long until the official presentation of this model.

Pictures of the concept on which ID.5 is supposedly based indicate that this may be the most attractive electric "Volkswagen" which, if the price is not too high, could really achieve great market success, and perhaps be a bestseller in the e-SUV class. German companies.

Published in Blog/News

Ford has announced that it will build a new electric car in Europe using Volkswagen's mechanical frame - a platform for battery-powered vehicles, and that it will spend $ 1 billion on rebuilding a factory in Germany to produce zero-emission cars.

Ford of Europe President Stuart Rowley told reporters that the factory in Cologne will build one model of electric passenger vehicle, which would enter the market in the middle of 2023, and it is possible that another model will be produced there.

He said it was part of Ford’s efforts to offer fully electric or gas-electric versions of all passenger vehicles in Europe by 2024, and all will be fully electric by 2030. The company predicts that by 2030, two-thirds of its commercial vehicle sales will be vehicles in Europe be electric or hybrid.

The agreement with Volkswagen, which allows the use of the mechanical framework of that German electric car company, known by the German abbreviation MEB (modular electric tool set), allows Ford to take advantage of Volkswagen's huge investments in electric cars, while the entire industry is shifting to zero-emission vehicles. pollution.

The Volkswagen platform uses standard mechanical bases such as the battery, wheels and axles, which can be adapted to produce different vehicle models.

Carmakers in Europe must sell more electric vehicles to meet new, lower emission limits for carbon dioxide, the main gas that causes global warming. If manufacturers do not keep the average emissions of their entire fleet below the limit, they will pay large fines. Rowley said Ford can avoid fines.

The company said that commercial vehicles are the key to growth and profitability in Europe, with new products and services through an alliance with Volkswagen and a joint venture between Ford and Otosan in Turkey.

The announced investment, which will be made by 2025, is among Ford's most significant for more than a generation and "underscores our commitment to Europe and the modern future," Rowley said.

Ford said that the investment in the factory in Cologne, with more than 4,000 workers, is starting after Ford's European operations returned to profit in the fourth quarter of 2020.

That investment is part of Ford’s goal to spend at least $ 22 billion on electric vehicles from 2016 to 2025.

Published in Blog/News

The acceleration has begun and from now on we will hear almost daily news about which car brand is becoming fully electric in the period ahead. After Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley and many others, Ford has now stated that from 2030 it will offer exclusively electric models in Europe, as well as that the first European Ford on electricity will be made on the VW platform.

According to the promise from Ford, by the middle of 2026, every model on the European market will be available as a plug-in hybrid or electric, and by 2030, this company will switch exclusively to electricity.

Full electrification refers to passenger models, while commercial vehicles will have zero emissions by 2024.

All this fits in with the announcements from numerous European countries that they will ban the sale of gasoline and diesel engines by 2030, among which the United Kingdom is in the lead.

That is why Honda, Volvo, Nissan and others have announced that they will not even offer models with conventional drive in Europe. Honda will start implementing this plan as early as next year.

As for Ford, they are investing a billion dollars in the renovation of the factory in Cologne, where the production of the first European fully electric model will begin in 2023.

It will use Volkswagen's MEB platform on which the ID.3 and ID.4 models are created, and the first EV model from Ford made in Europe will be produced in parallel with the Fiesta. More information will be revealed in the coming period.

Published in Blog/News

The first contingent of the ID.4 crossover set off on its way to its future owners in Europe, China and the United States.

The Volkswagen ID.4 is the second production model of the new generation of electric vehicles manufactured by Wolfsburg, after the ID.3 that broke the ice last year. Both cars are based on the MEB mechanical platform developed by VW specifically for electric vehicles.

According to B92, optimistic forecasts are coming from the German manufacturer that it should deliver over 100,000 copies of the ID.4 crossover to customers this year alone, although they have received only about 17,000 orders so far. The VW ID.4 is currently being produced at the Zwickau plant in Germany, as well as in China, and will soon start production in Emden (Germany) and, next year, in the Chattanooga factory (USA).

Published in Blog/News

Volkswagen's Group Components division has opened its first plant to deal exclusively with car battery recycling.

The plant is located in the German city of Salzgitter and has started a recycling pilot project. The goal of the project is to take old lithium-ion batteries used in cars and extract useful raw materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt, and to extract aluminum, copper and plastic. In this way, in the ideal scenario, up to 90% of all battery components could be recycled.

Only car batteries that can no longer be used for any other purpose will be recycled in this plant. Namely, during this kind of ecological care, an analysis will be conducted. It will show whether the used battery is still capable of providing enough voltage for its "second life" in long-term energy storage systems, mobile vehicle charging stations and the like. If the analysis shows that the battery is no longer suitable for that, it will be sent for recycling to Salzgitter.

For now, as part of the pilot project, it is possible to recycle up to 3,600 batteries from electric cars a year in this plant. As e-vehicles gain in representation, so will the recycling drive, designed so that its capacity can be increased. Only by the end of this decade, they say from Volkswagen, will the recycling of batteries be carried out in significant quantities here.

What is important for this process is that it is in line with the environmental goals of the Volkswagen Group. VW plans to thoroughly discharge the batteries in the recycling process and disassemble them into their component parts. They are then ground into granules and dried, resulting in the so-called. "black powder" - composed of lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt and graphite. These elements are separated from the powder by chemical hydrometallurgical processes, dissolution in water and chemicals, which will be carried out by several partners for Volkswagen.

In the end, raw materials for the production of new battery cathodes will be obtained from valuable materials from old batteries. VW calculates that by using recycled materials and renewable energy sources when making a new average car battery, with a capacity of 62 kWh, it will save 1.3 tons of CO2 that will not end up in the atmosphere.

Author: SEEbiz / Bug.hr

Published in Blog/News

Toyota sold the most cars in 2020 and overtook Volkswagen from the first place in the world ranking list, it was announced at the headquarters of the Japanese company in Tokyo.

Last year, Toyota sold 9.528 million cars worldwide, which is 11.3 percent less than in 2019, but it still overtook Volkswagen, because the German manufacturer sold 9.305 million cars, which is a drop of 15.2 percent, Reuters reported.

Last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, sales of new cars were significantly reduced in all countries, and Toyota coped with it somewhat better because Asia coped much better with the pandemic than Europe and especially the United States.

Toyota states that they achieved better results than the competition, partly due to the larger offer of increasingly sought-after electric cars. Of the 9.528 million vehicles sold in 2020, 23 percent were electric, which is three percent more than in 2019.

Published in Blog/News
Tagged under

 

When we think of the beetle models from the sixties, we mostly get a picture of small bright cars with a retro vibe, in a wide range of pastel tones ...

However, one designer and fan of the Volkswagen Beetle car, Danny Kordal, gave his special model "Beetle" a very interesting transformation by turning it into a James Bond car, or something that belongs to the Batman franchise.

The 1961 model is painted matte black and has a flexible roof construction, which turns it into an open convertible. Kordal tuned the windshield as well, to complete his minimalist design. By removing the round lines of the car, including the side windows, together with the rear windshield, the owner created a slightly more square appearance of his torpedo-like bug.

Additionally, this beetle was lowered to the height of a standard hot rod model, followed by chrome details on each side in an outstanding combination. Even the interior of this model has been completely redesigned and finished with rich black, luxurious tonal leather seats and essential details.

Whether driving around the city or simply traveling on the open roads of rural areas, this vehicle attracts great interest of everyone who happens to be next to it, and with its unique and powerful appearance it leaves a very strong impression wherever it appears.

Published in Blog/News
Tagged under
Page 4 of 6

The latest news from the world of the auto industry

"It's time for Europe to respond to the threats posed by Chinese car brands," said Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo, urging European Union countries to collaborate in addressing the i...