Diesel VW Beetle & EV Up! Coming To America
According to reports coming out after the Los Angeles Auto Show, it seems that Volkswagen will be bringing both a diesel version of the new, new Beetle (which will replace the soon to be old, new Beetle) and they will also be selling an electric only version of their Up! small car.
VW is planning to bring a diesel version of the New Beetle to the U.S. market as well as planning to sell an all-electric version of its Up! hatchback here, Volkswagen Group of America President Stefan Jacoby told to the industry paper Automotive News.
The New Beetle, that’s the one that’s still out there driving around will soon be reaching the end of its lifespan. It has been out on the market with little to no real changes since 1998, and there is a replacement on the way (which would be the new, new Beetle, I guess) do to hit the streets in 2012, according to Jacoby, the 2012 Beetle will most likely offer a clean diesel option.
Good. Volkswagen has oil burners across their range in Europe, why not do the same thing here? It will help with CAFE standards, and if you want to get further off the grid, then you can also run bio-diesel.
And speaking of getting off the grid, or, in this case, perhaps getting on the grid would be more appropriate, there’s new developments concerning VW’s Up!, their new and highly anticipated small car platform.
Stefan Jacoby said that the American market would get an all-electric version of the Volkswagen’s Up! hatchback. Curiously, there will be no gas-only version of the Up! for America. At the moment, VW is only treating the Up! as a show car, saying that there’s no official plans for this model or that for America, or even if any of them will make it into the North American market at all.
“This is a study to find out whether customers have an interest in very low fuel consumption. For American customers, it’s very important to present themselves as green,” said Ulrich Hackenberg, head of technical development for VW, of the Up! Lite concept.
Shown at the Los Angeles show, the VW Up! Lite concept featured a diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain that promises of 70mpg. The unofficial, official rumor is that at least the diesel hybrid model will be in the U.S. soon.
Source: Left Lane News
Photo from Flickr user awshots
Filed Under: Car News • Electric • Events • Manufacturers • NY Auto Show • VW