VW reveals Golf VI TwinDrive plug-in hybrid prototype

The germans have done it again.

176 hp and 2.5 liters of fuel ? Who needs a Prius then?

this new design is growning on me, i thought it was ok but im starting to like it...

yea, that's the reasnon why's Golf still the best in this segment! They make prity nice cars(now with a surprise of 2.5l WOW)

Why the engineers does not use the combustion engine just to recharge the batteries. I have read that opel works this kind of hybrid engine. This idea can be useful for electric engine push the car on the hills or on the traffic jam and combustion engine works always in the same rpm like a generator to recharge the batteries when they needs power.

Best option around so far ... put me down for one as soon as they come Down Under

Hoefully this doesn't end up like the tdi jetta over hype, claiming 60mpg and ending up with 30mpg in the city and 41mpg on the highway. If it is I'm guess regular prius fuel economy numbers but in a fancier shell.

The time to trump the competition with a diesel-hybrids was a couple of years ago. This seems less like a ?break-through? and more like a ?catch-up?. German manufacturers have been ?evaluating? the merits of hybrids versus diesels (with respect to cost and complexity) for a couple of years now. Despite the potential high mileage numbers of hybrid diesels, they haven't brought one to market; and the intro dates of actual models seem to be perennially lodged on the horizon. But now, with recent legislative changes reducing greenhouse gases, it looks like diesel hybrids are now actually getting some serious consideration by German manufacturers. This is somewhat unfortunate as it only seems like an incremental advance. VW is very late to the party. It?s hard not to wonder what they might have been able to accomplish if they weren?t on the hybrid fence. Toyota, Honda, GM, and Ford have parallel hybrids and GM hopes to be building the first serial hybrid with the Chevy/Opel Volt. Toyota initially said the "next" Prius would be on lithium batteries and have plug-in capability. Those lofty promises have been "reframed" over the last few years, and it looks like the Volt may be the first plug-in hybrid making it to the market. While two of my three cars happen to be German, I don't really think the Germans have shown a lot of leadership in the hybrid arena. I recently went to the SF International Auto Show. While the Autobahn excessive-engineering mystique has universal appeal, most of the German offerings are as environmentally obtuse and irrelevant as American Hummers. I'm sure there are some technical differences between VW's project and those being pursued by other manufacturers, but this doesn't seem like a breakthrough as much as it is a marketing vehicle for winning R&D investments. That's fine, but no auto manufacturer should be resting on its laurels, especially the Germans.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz