Why a Hybrid!!!

[BIGGREEK]

This has nothing to do with the Rabbit but....its VW. The new style Touareg will have a hybrid.NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[0non]

fuel efficiency buddy

[Teyber]

i like it. We only have one earth. Our bodies came from the earth, we should respect the earth

[shan15]

POWER > earth

:P

I despise hybrids from my heart.
Would never be caught driving one of those things.

[Teyber]

POWER > earth

:P

I despise hybrids from my heart.
Would never be caught driving one of those things.

We all came from nature. nature is our mother. so arn't we all brothers and sisters?

[rockfordrabbit]

Yes its a hybrid, but this is no prius.

Its going to be a 3.0 V6 from the S4 and have a 0-60 of 6.8 seconds...faster than any touareg yet....its got an EIGHT speed tranny....and will have around 30mpg (very good for a behemoth like the Touareg)

Power + Earth > Power

[mmmoose]

My main concern with hybrids isn't so much the performance aspect. Tesla Motors has already shown us what can potentially be done with the technology. No... instead it's more of an issue of initial cost and long-term maintenance fees.

Mechanically, there's more that could go wrong and more out of pocket expenses you'll be dealing with when it comes to hybrid systems. It's also a short-sighted solution to environmental protection, considering those depleted batteries need to be disposed of somehow/somewhere.

All the marketing drivel Toyota has been pumping out with their hybrid systems is sickening, not to mention the fugliness of the Prius. I personally would never invest in this technology for the reasons mentioned above.

Until we come up with something better, TDI (future compact cars) and Ecoboost (future muscle cars) are the only serious solutions I see if fuel economy becomes a huge concern. And I think it's no secret that VW's past TDIs have lasted a very long time with no more special maintenance costs than any other normal automobile.

[VDubber]

very well said mmmoose, i would perfer TDI over hybrid anyday!!

[rockfordrabbit]

Obviously the long term goal should be removing oil as a fuel source all together...but in the mean-time, surely its better to stretch each drop of oil as far as it can go....and since the hybrid touareg will have the highest mpg of all variants, from a purely environmental point of view, it would be the greenest touareg choice.

Regarding inital price...you do pay a higher price for a hybrid variant compared to a petrol variant...but you also pay a higher price for the TDI over a petrol engine as well....so the initail price difference between the TDI and a hybrid is really not that big. (remember the Jetta TDI...it cost around $6000 more compared to a similar petrol variant).

Regarding the batteries...that is probably the silliest argument I have ever heard for avoiding hybrid technology...you think that these batteries will just go into a landfill somewhere?....they will get remanufactered and recycled, they are just made of common industrial products after all....not nuclear waste....by that argument we shouldn't buy any car that has any type of toxic/harmful material in its construction.

And dont forget...when looking at new technology, you really should consider the future possible advancements/developments....imagine if James Watt had said "oh well this steam power is incredibly inefficient and dangerous...lets just shelve it". By getting it out there in the real world it can be properly tested/adapted/improved for the next round of designs.

Regarding long-term maintenance costs...you may be right there, we really have no idea....but anybody who buys a car knows that for the term of your warranty you are golden and then its in the lap of the gods after that....its a total lottery.
The average American consumer buys a new car every 3 years (and this is especially true for high cost vehicles like the Touareg)...so how important is this really when you are spending $50,000 on a car you are only going to own while its in warranty?

Dont get me wrong...I am a HUGE TDI fan...but hybrids have their place in the automotive arena too.

If you HAVE to buy a touareg (which I wouldnt) the hybrid makes the most sense in terms of performance and the environment...sure you have to pay for that...and the people who want to shell out $50,000 on a Touareg will pay.

[volcomssj48]

I wonder if they'll have a TDI-Electric hybrid. Is that even possible?

[rockfordrabbit]

I wonder if they'll have a TDI-Electric hybrid. Is that even possible?

Our VW sources say they are working on exactly that.

One of the showcase cars that they made recently was a 1.4 liter 3 cylinder diesel-electric golf. 70 mpg. 75 hp.

[acgator]

I wonder if they'll have a TDI-Electric hybrid. Is that even possible?

Her you go: http://green.autoblog.com/2008/03/11...e-for-america/

I think Hybrids do have their place in the market. I would buy a TDI first ,however, and one of the reason is that you can't get a manual transmission in a hybride vehicle. Hybrids are probably best in urban environments where a lot of stop and go traffic occurs where the car can just be in electric mode while at stop lights and crawling in traffic. On the open highway, it just becomes another car however.
I'm not a fan of SUVs so I wouldn't buy one hybrid or not. Bu for those who do I suppose a hybrid SUV is a better choice than a regular one. I do wonder how many people bought Flex fuel SUVs out there, with the thought they would do their part for the environment until they realized you can't buy E85 everywhere and I'm sure they didn't go out of their way to find it.

[mmmoose]

I'd even steer clear of a TDI hybrid. It's the electrical/battery components of a hybrid that worries me. The reliability and future maintenance of these things make me cringe. How often do you see people fixing hybrid cars in their own garage? I don't think most private shops would even touch one. They might not break down often, but when they do you'll need to have a specially trained tech at the dealership take care of the problem, which takes god knows how many labor hours. Because very few people even know exactly how they work, it's a perfect opportunity for a dealership to exploit repair time estimates as well. I think they're cool for what they are, but no thanks.

[VDubber]

Our VW sources say they are working on exactly that.

One of the showcase cars that they made recently was a 1.4 liter 3 cylinder diesel-electric golf. 70 mpg. 75 hp.

75HP?? can't even pass a yaris with that!

[0non]

it passes the yaris in gas mileage

[nitroscope8]

A hybrid....TOUAREG??? I need a raise.....

[BIGGREEK]

Here is the article from Motor Trend...

[russdawg24]

A hybrid....TOUAREG??? I need a raise.....

lol, for real... have fun working on those.

[BIGGREEK]

Vw is also making something called twin drive (aka hybrid) successfully tested in the mk5 golf set to debut around 2011.

It just makes me sick to my stomach......

[v-dub89]

I think it's good they're branching out. But they should still focus most of their energy on bringing more clean diesels here and more efficient 4 cylinders engines.