Photo: Michael Graham Richard
New Compact Coupe (What an Original Name)
Volkswagen had a pretty nice-looking hybrid coupe to unveil in Detroit. It's just a concept for now, though unlike many other concept cars, this one actually looks like it could be turned into a production model with only small modifications. VW's approach to squeeze the most miles from every gallon of fuel is to combine its already-existing fuel-saving technologies. Read on for the technical details.
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
VW NCC Technical Specs
The NCC gets a 1.4-liter TSI gas engine combined with a 20-kilowatt electric motor powered by a 1.1kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 7-speed DSG (dual clutch) transmission.
The gas engine alone produces 150 horsepower and 110 pound-feet of torque, but when combined with the electric motor, the combined total climbs to 177 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque.
0 to 60 mph time is 8.1 seconds, and top speed is 141 mph.
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
What About Fuel Economy?
In VW's words: "Combined fuel consumption: 4.2 l/100 km* (45 mpg)! CO2 emissions: 98 g/km!" (the exclamation points are VW's)
Not to beat a dead horse, but this is a bigger and more powerful car than the just unveiled Honda CR-Z hybrid, yet it gets (on paper, anyway) significantly better fuel economy.
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
Coasting Trick
One interesting feature that should probably be used on more cars:
Frequently coasting: As soon as the driver releases the gas pedal, the TSI is disengaged from the transmission. This so-called "coast-down" is even possible at higher speeds, as in freeway driving. Since drag losses are eliminated here too, the NCC coasts for a very long time. And this promotes an anticipatory style of driving that leads directly to reduced fuel consumption.
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
No word yet on availability, but I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation VW Jetta kind of looked like this (and maybe they'll bring back the Jetta Coupe).
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