VW CrossBlue Coupé Plug-in Hybrid Debuts At LA Auto Show

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Yep, I still need to get a longer review of the Volkswagen e-Up! posted, but while you wait for that, here’s a bit of news about another plug-in vehicle from Volkswagen (VW): VW’s CrossBlue Coupé plug-in hybrid concept was just debuted at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show.

VW crossblue coupe plug in
VW CrossBlue Coupé

The CrossBlue Coupé is an SUV concept that has performance attributes of a sports car. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds, and it’s top speed is 147 mph (237 km/h).

Meanwhile, the combined fuel economy rating VW comes up with is 70 MPGe. Not bad for an SUV with sports car capabilities!

Electric mode on the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is just 13 miles, but that would cover the huge majority of most people’s trips. With the gasoline backup, the theoretical range comes to 570 miles (917 km).

Here’s more on the nitty gritty gearhead details from Green Car Congress if you’re interested in those:

A turbocharged direct-injection (TSI) V6 gasoline engine works together with two electric motors (40 kW front, 85 kW rear) to produce as much as 415 hp (309 kW). The V6 engine develops 369 lb-ft (500 N·m) of torque from as low as 1800 rpm, a figure that is boosted to 516 lb-ft (700 N·m) when the two electric motors are engaged.

The concept vehicle is based off the new Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) and could, if it were produced, be fitted with conventional four- and six-cylinder engines running on a variety of fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and CNG.

In this concept car, the following mechanical elements are featured: the MQB front suspension and four-link rear suspension; electro-mechanical MQB steering; a 295-horsepower EA390-series V6 TSI engine; and a six-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission. The vehicle’s electrical architecture includes a lithium-ion battery mounted in the center tunnel as well as a pair of electric motors.

Looks like an exciting vehicle. Let’s hope VW manufactures it. That would be a nice addition to the e-Up! and e-Golf.

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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

Zachary Shahan has 7324 posts and counting. See all posts by Zachary Shahan