VW showcased an all-new SUV concept car at a previous Beijing Motor Show and the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) SUV has already turned many heads.
Electric performance
The vehicle features a 280kW electric motor teamed with a combustion engine to give 375bhp and 516lb-ft of torque. The hybrid has a range of 31 miles on all electric power. Electric cars are becoming more and more commonplace as the government move away from using petrochemicals as a fuel source. This will ultimately lead to Tank Decommissioning at a number of petrol filling stations as they move towards providing electric charging points instead. More and more vehicle manufacturers will be releasing hybrid cars in the run up to 2020.
VW claims a top speed for the SUV of 139mph and acceleration from 0-62mph in six seconds, which is faster than VW’s hot hatch Polo GTI due to the enormous torque available via the electric-enabled motor.
Fuel economy also looks impressive, with VW stating the SUV will be capable of 94mpg; however, Car Magazine feels that real-world performance is likely to fall short of this figure, especially when driven to its full potential.
Interior innovation
In addition to the new SUV’s environmental credentials, VW is keen to promote the vehicle’s digital capabilities. VW states that the new digital display and control unit will give unprecedented levels of interactivity and we can see this new SUV concept heralding a dramatic step towards a person-focused information and entertainment system that sets the bar for other manufacturers in the same space.
VW’s hints about a curved glass screen and digital displays have led Autocar to believe that the dashboard design will be ultra-sleek, with buttons kept to the minimum.
The new SUV concept is clearly still a long way from hitting the streets; however, it would appear that the market is ready for an innovative new vehicle to push the SUV market forwards.
As the VW Touareg has been around for quite a while, perhaps the all-new PHEV concept being unveiled will prove to be a worthy successor. If this is the case, the SUV concept looks to be of a similar size rather than super-sized for the US market. The images released by VW suggest that the design may echo that of the current Tiguan, with curved lights and a broad body style.
