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.

Of course, it’s not available yet, no one knows when it will be, or how much it will cost. We do know that the Bik.e will charge itself up from your car so you won’t have to worry about keeping it powered up. Regardless of how much it costs, it definitely looks cool. I’m not 100% behind the fact that you can’t pedal it though, that kind of limits the functionality.

[via Gizmodo]

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 being integrated into Volkswagen Group vehicles. You may be able to buy a real-life K.I.T.T before you know it. It probably won’t be a Pontiac though.

You may recall that Volkswagen was the first team to complete the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 by having a fully autonomous Volkswagen Touareg SUV (his name was Stanley, btw) drive 132 miles through the Mojave Desert. Then for the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, a VW Passat Wagon took second place behind Tartan Racing team from Carnegie Mellon University in a 60 mile urban course. But those two challenges are nothing compared to what’s on tap for next year: Pikes Peak in an autonomous Audi TT-S.

CrunchGear: How about we start with an overview of the project.

The VAIL is an initiative that we started here from our electronics research lab in Palo Alto to initialize automotive center at Stanford. We got the smartest people from all over the world in one place. We already had experience with the DARPA Grand Challenge race success. We won the desert race with the autonomous driving cars together with the Stanford racing team. Then we repeated the success in the Urban Challenge in 2007.

So we thought how can we bring each competence together, create a platform for a convenient automotive industry and Silicon Valley partners to look into the future and find some solutions for the mobility, safety and environmentally-friendly problems, which we have to face together.

The Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory funded a building, which will be dedicated and opened tomorrow (10/24/2009). We’ll fund the research projects with $750,000 per year for the next five years.

CrunchGear: How is Stanford involved in the project?

We expect first that we collaborate with the Stanford genius together on the solutions that we create for the future. We divided the VAIL topics into three major themes

One is how do we want to drive autonomously in the urban environment. We have so many problems that we have to solve like direction recognition, lane warning, lane detection, but all these obstacles have to be observed by camera systems in the urban environment, which is one of the biggest challenges.

What we would like to create for all of these three topics, and I’ll come back to the 2nd and 3rd, is initiatives. The vision for urban driving is to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles autonomously and that involves traffic jams and obstacles. What can we do to provide to our drivers with? They want to text while driving and we have to make that safe.

We already established systems in our current models like blind spot detections, adaptive cruse control but what’s the future for that? Can we already allow them to press the auto button to start texting? So that’s the vision. Drive along the highway and allow the driver to do something other than driving.

The second vision is up to the limits together with the driving dynamics department at Stanford. If you come to a critical situation, you generally have to take the control over from the driver.

Let me explain it to you this way: If you brake your car without control, you will definitely hit the obstetrical in front of you. Can you imagine that we can try to find the emergency parts for the driver and turn the car into a different path to avoid any impact any with the obstacle? It would be a smart system that acts within the limit’s range of the car that would find an emergency solution. The driver would never be able to do this because there is too much information within the milliseconds.

The idea for up to the limits is to look at the best drivers to give us super examples how to react in critical situations. So we looked at a German rally driver that drives up Pike’s Peak. It’s a really critic race, but it’s a challenge for us to try to understand what makes this rally driver so special and get this knowledge into the car.

We built a next generation autonomous car that’s able to drive like a rally drive and drift into the curves. It drives even in extreme situations. We think we can actually drive up hill to Pike’s Peak next year. That’s the second project.

The third one is with multitasking. We actually sponsored a project seen in the NYT on what people are really able to multitask or are they not really able to focus on one task and fulfill that. It’s really an interesting study. But for us it’s really interesting because we would like understand what the perfect interface between humans and machines. Do you believe in your car? Do you believe that if you press the autopilot button that the car would actually do what you would expect. Or do you have blue screens like we experience everyday – I don’t want to blame Windows – but with our operating systems. We have to prepare the highest reliability for systems. But what do you expect in these relationships between the car and the driver in the future.

These three founding purposes are the main intentions at VAIL.

http://blip.tv/play/grExganxGwA

CrunchGear: What type of testing has the Pike’s Peak vehicle seen so far?

We actually tested that at Salt Flats to have the open area available to be able drive up to the limits without any risks. It sounds crazy but we needed the smartest people actually at Stanford to prepare to the algorithms because you have to control systems again in the in-stable mode and the few years ago we thought it was impossible. But we did test already and we created a movie to show that’s possible and we think we can go one step farther and do this crazy race.

Again I told you that it’s rally style driving. It’s really incredible; up to the limits.

CrunchGear: One of the reason they use Pikes’s Peak is because of the environmental conditions. How does the altitude affect the vehicle?

We have the best system actually to use for that in the Audi TT-S and it’s working perfect. We tried it already at Pike’s Peak in slow mode to figure out what type of problems we might have in that environment.

CrunchGear: What else has changed in the Audi TT-S

If you saw our Junior VW Passat Wagon urban environment, we had many roadblocks to avoid and accidents with any person in that car. We don’t need the rack on the roof anymore. We don’t need big sizes for that at all. It looks almost like a stock car. You would only see three antennas on top of the roof. That’s all. We fit the computer in the trunk. We really want to show off that we’re coming closer to an actual product. It’s not too far away.

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 the guys behind Real Racing, Firemint, to “launch” the new 2010 VW GTI. By downloading the app to your iPhone or iPod touch, you can drive around—for free, mind you—the car you wish you owned.

If you’re not familiar with Real Racing, here’s a 10-second review: it’s a racing game for the iPhone (and iPod touch) that has been very well received. Like, it’s currently sitting on 4.5 stars on the iTunes Store. That’s pretty much it.

So what Team VW did was hook up with Firemint, and now you can “test drive,” so to speak, the new GTI (full name: Volkswagen GTI MkVI) before your local car dealer has one. Or maybe you’re 15-years-old and can’t drive yet? Whatever the case may be, friends.

Incidentally, every time you play the game you’re automatically entered into a contest to win one of six special edition cars. So that’s neat.

Time for some good-natured cynicism: right now the iPhone is still cool (how long will that last, by the way?), so it’s still OK for companies to do what VW did, create an App that popularizes their product or whatever. I just wonder how long these types of campaigns will be effective before people decide they’re lame.

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.

Test Drive is a new series that we’re starting at CrunchGear wherein we get a hands-on look at new or interesting modes of transportation. It’s not limited to just cars, either. We’ll take a look at just about anything from scooters to rockets and everything in between.

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 driven hard by those ‘racer’ types. When the parental units are doing the purchasing – you tend to keep your mouth shut and hope they don’t pawn the old family van on you.

For the better part of a decade, I’ve steered clear of VW – mainly because I don’t drive anymore- but I have to hand it to them with their recent ad campaign. They’re clever and the viral online campaigns are a big time sink, which is smart on VW’s part. VW is one of the very few brands that find a way to thrive and not just survive when times are tough. And what better than to offer a sophisticated looking ride that offers countless amenities, a smooth ride and that doesn’t hit your wallet too hard? Enter the CC.

Admittedly, the CC doesn’t quite have all the tech-related features we look for when taking Test Drives, but there are a few notables from our gadget-obsessed perspective. We drove around the CC Sport edition, which is the base model 4-banger with a 2.0L Turbo that gets a respectable 21MPG in the city and 31MPG on the highway. It comes as a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic with Tiptronic that starts at $27,100. You can opt for the Luxury (same power plant as Sport), VR6 Sport or VR6 4Motion models that have a 3.6L, VR6 powerplant with 280HP that tops out at $39,800, but they only come with automatic transmissions.

When traversing a city you’re unfamiliar with, GPS certainly comes in handy, right? As a $2640 upgrade, the “technology package with MDI (Media Device Interface)” would probably be the one upgrade I’d opt for. And I suppose the Bluetooth option is worth the $275, or of course a dorky $50 Bluetooth headset would suffice as well. So, the MDI supports USB devices other than your iPod, like hard drives or flash drives, and displays ID3 tags with full control over devices via the touch-screen interface. There is, however, a USB port in the glove box as well if you choose not to opt for the tech package. Also included in the package are Sirius satellite radio, CD, DVD and a rear-view camera that’s inconspicuously hidden in the rear badge.

For the gadget-obsessed like myself, the CC has three 12V power outlets placed in the main cabin, rear cabin and trunk. It’s not an AC outlet, but it’s certainly better than nothing and it comes with every trim.

While not available in the Sport or Luxury model, the 10-speaker Dynaudio system puts out a total of 600W for adequate easy listening while on the road trip. Miley Cyrus sounded great, as did Smoosh.

One of my pet peeves is people who leave their blinkers on after they’ve already switched lanes. The CC comes equipped with the Lane Change Feature that blinks three times with just a tap and immediately stops. Can’t you people hear the ticking noise?

Another neat feature of the CC is the electronic parking brake that’s lever- and pedal-less. It’s just a button that you click to engage and disengage. Genius.

One of the simplest housekeeping things to keep in mind with your car is tire pressure. I typically checked air pressure in my car every couple weeks while getting a fill up, but I know some of you are guilty of not doing this or you know someone that is, right? Well, the CC automatically does it for you and alerts you to low tire pressure in the center cluster of the dashboard. Now you don’t have any excuses and you’ll save yourself money on gas and tires with this feature.

Available on the VR6 models are Bi-Xenon headlights that shift 15 degrees in the direction you’re going. I don’t know what it is about these new-fangled headlights that I enjoy, but I dug them on the MKS and CC. It might have something to do with growing up in the West Hills of Portland where all the roads in my neighborhood were twisties.

Well, that’s just a quick summation of the tech-related features of the Volkswagen CC. The CC offers a touch of class and adequate muscle without breaking the bank.

Volkswagen CC

[PSGallery=50wpc2yg09]

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 ways to produce the Microbus that will make it competitive in North America. At the moment there is no firm decision but, with the exchange rate the way it is, there is no way we could entertain building it in Europe.

So there you have it, VW wants to bring her back, maybe.

Now, does this news appeal to anyone not a product of the 1960s?

via squob

Volkswagen is on a quest to find out exactly what the people want, and they’re not afraid to use new technology to do it. And since 56% of the people want more technology in daily life, 69% of the people want interactive surveys and another 60% of the people want a decision made on what the best thing is since sliced bread, Volkswagen thought they’d take a stab at all of it.

Under the guise of its new campaign message of It’s what the people want, and presented by Max, the classic ‘64 talking Beetle and new brand spokesman, Volkswagen’s multi-platform initiative centers around a national polling effort utilizing user-generated content–in the form of voters’ responses collected through the online microsite and the mobile polling site–and disseminates the polling results across the Web via the hub site, vw.com/whatthepeoplewant, contextualized online banners, embeddable polls for bloggers (despite the fact that 67% of the people want “bloggers to shut up”), customizable t-shirts and an interactive Times Square billboard.

What’s most interesting about this campaign, besides the fact that it has nothing to do with cars, is the new technology used to achieve it. The banners use an advanced form of keyword targeting to determine what statement displays on what page, making them one of the first ever user-generated banner campaigns that is served contextually. This is all done real-time, using an application created specifically for the campaign. Volkswagen is also the first brand to utilize the ABC SuperSign’s “live interactivity” technology in Times Square. The technology allows two-way dialogue with passersby via SMS, allowing users to vote on polls from the central site database in real time with their mobile devices.

If music’s more your bag, VW is encouraging people to visit Pandora to influence the playlists of two online radio stations, called “Music for the People.” Already Pandora has received one of the highest rates of user submissions ever for these stations.

With total polling votes to date already passing 1 million, it’s quite clear that people are responding to this addictive little site and the campaign as a whole. In fact, already Volkswagen has seen a 28% increase in test drives since the initiative began.

Check it out, and you’ll probably spend a good part of your morning voting on all sorts of opinions you never knew you had. Will you be one of the 79% of people who want more time spent on the homeless than on lobster research? Or maybe you’ll be one of the 59% of people who want cones more than cups? Want America to go metric? You and 62% of the rest of the people do. How about the 64% of people who want pirates to fight ninjas in an epic battle? Maybe the political powers that be should take a gander as well to find out what’s really on the minds of the American people. Because a candidate who can tap into the 73% of people who want to take the tiny soap and shampoo bottles from hotel rooms can run my country any day.

The Li-ion batteries would lower the weight of the car by hundreds of pounds, improving handling and mileage. You’ve already got them in your phones, media players, and so on, but adapting them for the high-capacity, high-throughput application of powering a car is a serious endeavor — which must be why Sanyo is pledging nearly a billion dollars over the next couple years to developing the technology.

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 fantasy to some, but its true. VW developed a concept version back in 2002.

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 react to certain gestures. To scroll through the menu you can either tap on each icon or do the swipe thing and the icons will begin to carousel. When you bring up the phone icon, you hover your hand towards the side and it brings up a cluster of your contacts pictures. Depending on which corner, I think, you hover your hand over it brings a different cluster up for you to choose from. The driver gets an 8-inch monitor that shows info like vehicle speed, battery reserves, hydrogen volume and range as well as album art. Check out the gallery and more info the SUB after the jump.

The SUB is concept and we may or may not see this get produced. I, for one, hope it does go into production because it’s frickin’ sweet. I always wanted one of the old VW buses and this is just ten times better. The rear-engine bus is the world’s first to have a high temperature fuel cell and 12 lithium-ion batteries. The electric motor (45kW/61PS) can handle up to 65 miles on one charge while a full hydrogen charge gets you 220 miles from where you start. Fueling up the SUB is done via an electrical outlet, hydrogen station or directly from the sun. That’s right, the VW SUB has a solar panel on its roof that feeds 150W into the battery. The high temperature fuel cell is far superior to anything else out on the market today because it weighs less, it’s cheaper, and is utilized better on a day-to-day basis.

Going back to the engine, the 45kW/61PS motor churns 10,000 times per minute and produces a maximum torque of 120 Newton-meters. Top speed on the bus is 75MPH and does 0-62MPH in 13.7-seconds. As a quick comparison, other hybrid cars can only go 1.24-miles on the battery alone. The SUB does 65 miles. Two tanks on the belly of the SUB store 3.3 kilograms of compressed hydrogen each. I’ll spare you on the other details I have, but just know that high temperature fuel cells kick ass for a variety of other reasons.

I just hope VW puts this bad boy into production. Enjoy the photos.

Thankfully, we here at CrunchGear know this second cousin and have obtained concept renderings that Apple and Volkswagen DO NOT want you to see. See that Jellyfish above? Traction control. The crude rims? 802.11n. If only you knew.

Report claims Apple talking with Volkswagen over ‘iCar’ [AppleInsider]

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 complimentary subscription for no charge.

Volkswagen also got Sirius in on its Canadian operations by offering Sirius standard in Touareg 2 and Triple White Beatle models. Same deal for the most part. Looks like XM fans will have to find a new car company or a new stereo if they plan on getting a V-Dub.

Sirius goes standard on select Vee-Dubs [Orbitcast]