VW unveils Cross Coupe GTE plug-in hybrid concept SUV at Detroit show; 70 mpge; previewing 7-seater SUV in 2016
12 January 2015
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Cross Coupe GTE. Click to enlarge. |
Volkswagen is unveiling a five-seater Cross Coupe GTE plug-in hybrid at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit as a preview to its new seven-seater mid-size SUV due to enter production at the end of 2016. The Cross Coupe GTE plug-in hybrid system has a maximum output of 355 hp (265 kW) and features an all-wheel-drive system that uses an “electric driveshaft”. The hybrid has a manufacturer-estimated fuel economy rating of 70 MPGe.
The GTE acronym generally applies to all sporty Volkswagen models with a high-tech plug-in hybrid drivetrain. They offer the driving characteristics of a grand tourer (Gran Turismo or GT) and, with one or more electric motors and a battery (E as in Electric), they also offer zero-emissions driving. (E.g., the Golf GTE, earlier post.) The Cross Coupe has a zero-emissions range of up to 20 miles (32 km) and can reach 60 mph from rest in just 6.0 seconds. The car has five operating modes: E-Mode, GTE, Hybrid, Off-road and Battery Hold/Battery Charge.
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Click to enlarge. |
The Cross Coupe GTE is the third concept car presented by Volkswagen on the way to the production version of the mid-size SUV. Together, all three concepts—the CrossBlue presented in Detroit in January 2013 (earlier post), the CrossBlue Coupe most recently shown in Los Angeles in November 2013 (earlier post) and the Cross Coupe GTE—represent just a part of the wide spectrum of SUV variants that can be produced off Volkswagen’s modular transverse matrix (MQB) architecture.
The Cross Coupe GTE is the ambassador of a new design language developed by Volkswagen for the US. The concept car has a commanding presence; it is powerful with a look that could almost be described as aggressive. Numerous details hint at how we envision a future production SUV model for North America. The underlying concept combines German engineering and design with a vehicle that suits the American lifestyle. That means high efficiency, clear and powerful design, logical operation and supreme quality—combined with lots of space, superior performance, and outstanding comfort.
—Klaus Bischoff, chief designer at Volkswagen
Powertrain. With the modular transverse matrix (MQB) architecture, Volkswagen can not only offer a vehicle with conventional gasoline and diesel engines, but can produce them as plug-in hybrids, with natural gas powertrains, and as zero tailpipe emissions electric and fuel cell vehicles. This means that the Cross Coupe GTE, too, can be produced with a range of powertrains.
The SUV concept is powered by a 3.6-liter VR6 gasoline engine and two electric motors. The six-cylinder direct-injection engine (FSI) delivers 276 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The two electric motors produce 54 hp and 162 lb-ft (front) and 114 hp and 199 lb-ft (rear). They are powered by a compact lithium-ion battery housed in the center tunnel, which is rated at 14.1 kWh.
The total output of the drive system adds up to 355 hp and 280 lb-ft, enough to power the Cross Coupe GTE onto a top speed of 130 mph and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.0 seconds.
The Cross Coupe GTE features a number of driving profiles: On-road (with Comfort and Eco sub-modes); Off-road (with Rocks, Sludge & Sand and Gravel); Sport; and Snow. The profiles change the setup of the SUV. There are also five drive modes: E-Mode; Hybrid; GTE; Off-road; and Battery Hold / Battery Charge.
E-Mode. The Cross Coupe GTE can travel up to 20 miles as an EV. In E-Mode, the 114-hp rear electric motor drives the vehicle and the VR6 engine is shut down and decoupled from the drivetrain by disengaging the clutch. As soon as the gasoline engine needs to be restarted due, for instance, to the battery charge status, it re-engages smoothly in a fraction of a second. Power electronics manage the flow of high-voltage energy from and to the battery and to the electric motors. The 12-volt electrical system is supplied by a DC/DC converter. The battery is charged via external power sources or while driving.
Hybrid. The concept car starts in Hybrid Mode by default. The Cross Coupe GTE is then a classical full hybrid that charges the battery via regenerative braking and automatically uses the VR6 engine and/or the electric motor depending on the drive situation. In this mode, the battery state of charge is kept constant; the driver can actively influence this by using the battery hold function.
Coasting: As soon as the driver takes his or her foot off the accelerator and the battery is sufficiently charged, the gasoline engine and electric motors are shut down and disengaged from the drivetrain.
Recuperation Mode: If the driver removes his or her foot from the accelerator or brakes when the battery is not sufficiently charged, both electric motors work as generators and feed the energy generated during braking to the lithium-ion battery. In this case, too, the VR6 engine is shut down and disengaged.
Driving with the VR6 engine: When the gasoline engine alone is powering the vehicle, the concept car is purely front-wheel drive to achieve excellent fuel economy.
GTE. The driver uses the GTE button to switch to the most dynamic side of the vehicle. This makes the throttle, transmission and steering characteristics even sportier. In addition, the VR6 engine and the electric motors work together to deliver the full system output and the maximum system torque.
Off-road. All four wheels are powered as soon as the driver activates this mode. In this case (and when the battery charge is low), the front electric motor is employed exclusively as a generator that is driven by the gasoline engine in order to provide the power for its counterpart at the rear axle. As the power to drive the rear axle flows electronically, the all-wheel-drive system is referred to as an “electric driveshaft”. Since the VR6 engine drives the rear electric motor via the front motor in Off-road Mode, all-wheel drive is available even when the battery has a low state of charge and the car is running as a plug-in-hybrid.
Battery Charge/Battery Hold. The dual-mode Battery Hold (energy content of the battery stays constant) and Battery Charge (battery is charged whilst driving) is activated via a sub-menu in the infotainment system. It serves to hold the vehicle in E-Mode, for example, when the driver knows they are about to enter an urban area.
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Exterior. The Cross Coupe GTE, which is painted in Grand Pacific Glacier blue, has an even stronger presence than the concept cars unveiled in 2013. Although all three SUVs were based on the Volkswagen design DNA and have styling features in common, the Cross Coupe GTE’s detailing marks a break with the previous concept cars and thus increases the momentum towards series production, the company said.
Interior. The Cross Coupe GTE not only previews future Volkswagen SUV exterior design—it also shows how Volkswagen designers envision a mid-size SUV interior of tomorrow. This look ahead reveals the consistent further development of two key features of Volkswagen interiors. The first is the clear, horizontal orientation of the interior architecture, especially the control panel.
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The second characteristic feature of every Volkswagen interior is the self-explanatory and intuitive operation of all elements and systems. Volkswagen will retain this in the age of interactive information and control systems. In the Cross Coupe GTE, the combination of gloss black applications with the seamlessly integrated displays and chrome elements creates a striking new interior design language that is clearly influenced by the German Bauhaus movement.
The information and control level extends across the whole width of the car. On the outside of the instrument panel, there are two horizontal polished aluminum air vents. The 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, which is integrated in the middle of the control panel, is framed by two sets of vertical air vents on either side.
The whole area features a completely new architecture so that the infotainment and instrument panel appear to be a single unit. All functions are controlled via touchscreen. This high-end digital world is capped by an Active Info Display, with displays that can be individually set by the driver.
The driver and front passenger can manage all infotainment functions and the basic vehicle configuration via the 10.1-inch touchscreen, using proximity sensors and gesture control. Gesture control is a completely new feature (earlier post), and allows occupants to swipe over a playlist from some distance away to browse and play tunes.
The layout of the graphics changes depending on the selected driving profile: Snow, Sport, On-road and Off-road. Furthermore, navigation data can be displayed in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional form. In the 3-D view the user can configure the display individually at three or even more levels that float above one another in a virtual space. They all show the map with the position of the vehicle but with different information: if the driver has configured the Points-of-Interest (POI), the middle level has geographic information such as the current altitude while the bottom Car level has the route and position. The levels can be freely moved from the top to the bottom, but individual settings are always made on the top level.
The 12.3-inch instrumentation screen has a conventional shape, but all the information shown is digital. The 1,440 x 540 pixel resolution gives extremely high-quality interactive graphic presentation of all details. Individual interactions/graphics are allocated to different basic functions. The graphics change, for example depending on the drive mode selected, such as E-Mode or GTE, and information such as driving, navigation and assistance functions can be integrated in the area as required.
A brushed aluminum horizontal strip runs across the whole width of the interior below the infotainment screen and instrument cluster. A touchscreen below this strip is used to control the climate control, including the heated and cooled seats.
The shift lever for the 6-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission always remains in a central position, like a joystick. A quick click activates the R, N and D modes; a separate button, integrated in the lever, switches to P. The rotary driving profile selector for the On-road, Off-road, Sport and Snow profiles is housed behind the shift lever and uses lightpipe elements (transparent, perfused with LED light) that are fully in keeping with the modern look of the interior. Black hard keys take care of the ESC, E-Mode and GTE-Mode, while aluminum is used for the start/stop button.
The rear-seat climate control is also controlled via a touchscreen. Attachments for tablets are incorporated in the headrests of the rear seats and the Volkswagen Media Control app enables them to access the radio, media sources, and navigation via Wi-Fi.
Why bother with the added costs of a PHEV when it only comes with 20 miles EV range. The new Volt with 50 miles of EV range makes much more sense IMO.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 12 January 2015 at 04:17 AM
Very disappointing, ZERO progress on the electric part, since last year China show and Audi TT OffRoad concept. They have the motors almost right to make a convenient all electric mode, but they still dont have a decent > 30KWH battery to put behind it. 20Miles EV range means <10KWH meaningless battery is used again here. Means 2 x charges per day and its 3000 x full charges life cyles will only lasty 5 to 6 years, so resale value of this car when used will be ZERO. JUST FORGET IT !
Posted by: Patrick Free | 12 January 2015 at 04:54 AM
Either batteries are not going to gradually reduce in cost, in which case forget electric cars, or they are in which case it makes more sense to replace a small battery pack after a few years than build one twice as big from the outset.
Posted by: Davemart | 12 January 2015 at 05:31 AM
Patrick; This vehicle makes no sense in so many more ways. Who thinks that a car can be both a GT, Autobahn cruiser, and also any kind of serious Off-Road vehicle. It takes a deal more than 4x4 to be any good at that. I note that they claim to have invented a "new design language for the US market". I hope sensible Americans reject that for the piece of marketing hype that it is.
Posted by: Peterww | 12 January 2015 at 06:38 AM
I won't go anywhere in that vehicle because it is a record pack of possible problems. Probably volwagen has identifiead that there is an important part of the market ready to pay more for anything because they suffer from insecurity and they know nothing about mecanisms, so they overpay. It's the same with formula one of this year, they are costly and over-engineered and only Mercedes win and all the rest of formula one manufacturers kept their money for them.
Posted by: gorr | 12 January 2015 at 07:10 AM
@Peter:
Most vehicles like this are bought because people like the way they look and their space, and never go off road.
So VW can hardly be blamed for building what people want.
It people were actually going off road in them, then manufacturers would build vehicles to suit.
Posted by: Davemart | 13 January 2015 at 12:36 AM
@Davemart, You seem to be ignoring my main point, that it is not possible for a car to be a Gran Turismo and any kind of Off-Road vehicle. You are not telling me anything new in saying that people buy cars because they like the way they look, but I suppose my real complaint here is that OEM press releases like this are too often reprinted Verbatim, with no attempt at editing, even if any of the claims are nonsensical, and I doubt that VW needs you to stick up for them.
Posted by: Peterww | 13 January 2015 at 05:49 AM
Peter:
I did not get your main point,rather than ignoring it.
Gran Turismo's with excellent off road capability can be built.
Both Range Rover and Mercedes do so.
Most don't actually need the capability, which is why most don't do the somewhat more complex and costly engineering needed to enable it.
Posted by: Davemart | 13 January 2015 at 12:15 PM
Dave,I suppose that I also resent marketing people taking and misusing terms recognised and used by enthusiasts of different sorts, GT having been first used by Ferrari, many years ago for their famous 250 GTO, then appropriated by the marketing arm at Dagenham for a badge to stick on mildly tuned up Cortinas, while "Off-Roader" belongs entirely to the band of enthusiasts who build specials for that purpose, all of which could run rings around the two makes you mention, or any of the other brands which pretend to name any of their products thus.
I would have expected that you,being English, would have to bring up Range-Rover sooner or later, but it is never going to be a grand Tourer in the mould, say of its cousins Jaguar and Aston Martin, if you insist upon flag-waving, and the current Jeep model JK will very likely also make it look pathetic in a 'real'off-road test. In other words both Range-Rover and all those other "SUVs" modeled after it are neither one thing nor the other, but an attempt by the industry to invent a whole new category, which I wish their marketing people, or Journalists would stick to in describing them.
Posted by: Peterww | 14 January 2015 at 08:42 AM
Since this forum is ostensibly about Sustainable transport, I do not propose to sully its columns with an argument about the merits of a category of vehicles which must, by their very size,punch a huge hole in the air, wasting masses of fuel at anything even approaching true GTO speeds. I apologise to readers who could be forgiven for thinking that I was trying to start such an argument, but I come from a culture with a low threshold of tolerance for BS, which this Press Release from VW seemed to me to be too liberally sprinkled with to let go un-challenged.
Posted by: Peterww | 15 January 2015 at 03:22 AM
Peter:
Your illiberal and uncalled for accusations of flag waving to dismiss points you don't like makes me think that you have a high tolerance for BS when it is you talking it.
If you don't think the Range Rover is a capable off road vehicle you have not seem the tests, although of course that capability necessarily compromises other qualities to some degree.
The news that no one cares what your 'attitude' is to the cars they drive, or about your disapproval of certain categories of cars, and since you do not in fact rule the world and they are not going to stop driving them due to your disapproval then it seems worthwhile to consider them on their own merits, and the VW offering in fact represents a considerable advance on cars in this category.
Posted by: Davemart | 15 January 2015 at 09:20 AM