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
Soon nearly every manufacturer and brand will have an electric vehicle in its lineup. Well, soon might be relative, but at least VW is getting into the game with an EV version of the Up! hatchback that debuted at the L.A. Auto Show last week. Plus, the next-gen Beetle will be offered in the States with an optional clean diesel engine. The greenies at the Copenhagen Climate Summit are probably pleased with this news. → 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 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 → 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 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. → 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 fantasy to some, but its true. VW developed a concept version back in 2002. → 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 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. → Read More
