Volkswagen just announced their latest gadget, the Bik.e – a folding electric bicycle designed to fit in the trunk of your car, in the space currently taken up by your spare tire. With a maximum range of 12.5 miles, I question whether it would be a good spare tire replacement, but I still like it. It is interesting to see a company like Volkswagen get into the electric bicycle concept though. → Read More
Volkswagen is taking great strides in making the roads safer and remove the dangerous fun from driving by developing fully autonomous vehicles. I had a chance to talk to Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, director of the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) about the future of the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) at Stanford University and how the technology developed there is… → Read More
To call us a “car blog” would sorta be stretching the truth. Occasionally one of the guys—aka Matt Burns—will do a car story, yeah, but that’s primarily because he thinks he’s James May. I have no such illusions of grandeur; I’m just sitting at a desk typing things, and writing student loan checks… Before this gets any further off track, the news: Volkswagen has teamed up with… → Read More
Starting this month, prospective VW Routan buyers will have the option of equipping their minivan with Autonet Mobile’s Wi-Fi service, uconnect. Service for uconnect in your Routan will cost $29/month for 1GB of data or $59/month for 5GB of data. → Read More
I’ve always been a tad averse to Volkswagens since my days in HS. For some reason, I always associated a VW with a girl’s car. Perhaps the flower holder in the Beetle was a bit much, VW. I simply could not be associated with any brand that touted a flower holder as a feature. Heh. I would have given my right arm for a mint Scirocco, but all the ones I could find were in disarray having been… → Read More
Flower children, It looks like Volkswagen is considering bringing back the Microbus, a symbol of your generation I think I read once. The company wants more of a presence in the North American market; suggestions that it re-make the Microbus (or Kombi, depending on where you’re from) quickly followed. And here’s the business, straight from a senior VW official: We’re looking at… → Read More
What with all the hullabaloo about syncing your car with your phone or mp3 player, it’s only natural that rumors would arise about Apple having exclusive dealings with some company — and maybe even helping in the design of the car. Well, here’s some more fuel for the fire. This VW concept car featured in the German car mag Autobild looks more Apple-inspired than Apple-designed… → Read More
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcrunchgear%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F928353%3Freferrer%3Dblip%2Etv%26source%3D1&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf Volkswagen is on a quest to find out exactly what the people want, and they’re not afraid to use new technology… → Read More
Following the lead of Nissan and NEC, which both recently have started down this track, the German carmaker is looking into lithium-ion batteries to improve its hybrids and electrics. It sounds like the Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in their cars are both heavier and more toxic than the alternative. The Li-ion batteries would lower the weight of the car by hundreds of pounds, improving… → Read More
Volkswagen says they are planning to produce a 1-Liter car, ready for sale by early 2010. The body of the car will be made of plastic and magnesium. A one-cylinder engine with a top speed of about 74 mph will power the gas sipping car. With the rising price of fuel, the main selling point for this car is that it will get 235 mpg (hippies are going to love this thing). That might sound like a… → Read More
I know the Space Up! Blue from VW was announced last Fall, but this is the last time it will be seen in the US and I got the chance to take a look up close. For all intents and purposes for CG we’ll focus on the interface, which was eerily similar to Apple’s slew of touch screen devices. The monitor in the center is 7-inches of touch screen goodness. It utilizes proximity sensors that… → Read More
Hell, why stop with a phone? According to rumors somebody’s second cousin made up, Volkswagen and Apple are apparently having secret talks about an iCar. The car will be so technologically advanced, that etc. etc….blah blah. You know the deal with these Apple rumors. Several tie-ins with Apple products…draw in the consumer…etc. Thankfully, we here at CrunchGear know this… → Read More
Looks like Sirius and Volkswagen have successfully completed a deal that will make Sirius Satellite Radio standard in select VWs from 2008 to 2012. The Touareg 2, New Beetle, New Beetle Convertible, GTI, and GLI models will all have Sirius included standard, though you’ll still have to shell out the monthly bucks for a subscription to the service. Thankfully, VW includes a 3-month… → Read More
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