Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Volkswagen Group Details Hybrid, Electric Model Rollout

Volkswagen recently announced its intention to become the electric vehicle leader by 2018, and now it is backing this claim up with a plan for seven new hybrid models that will be coming out starting in 2014. A report from our colleagues at Motor Trend details these seven models, which include hybrids from Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche.
The Volkswagen Group currently offers seven hybrids globally: the Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid, the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, the Audi Q5 Hybrid, the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid, the Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, the Audi A6 Hybrid, and the Audi A8 Hybrid. This year, Volkswagen has already announced five more electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, including the Volkswagen e-Up! and e-Golf, the Porsche 918 Spyder and Panamera S E-Hybrid, and the extremely efficient Volkswagen XL1.
Starting next year, seven more electric and hybrid vehicles will eventually bring this total to 19, and we now know what these upcoming models will be. Audi will introduce four models, including the A3, A5, A8, and Q7 e-tron models which will be plug-in hybrids. Volkswagen will roll out two new plug-in hybrids: the Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen Golf TwinDrive models. The Porsche Cayenne will also gain a plug-in hybrid model called the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid.
We don’t know much more about these future models, but the Audi A3 e-tron has already been revealed and should be coming to the U.S. sometime next year. It’s unclear which of the other plug-in hybrid and electric models will make it to our shores, but Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said that as many as 40 electrified models could be in the works to help Volkswagen reach the top in the electric vehicle market.

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