If not the Golf, then who? The eighth-generation of the bestseller will feature a new electrified drive system. We explain facts and functions of the socalled „mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle“-Systems („mHEV“) with 48 volt technology.

The mobility sector is changing rapidly. While customers' demands for comfort and digital networking are increasing, legislators are calling for a sustainable reduction in CO2 fleet emissions to 95 g/km by 2020. Against this background, 48V technology is an attractive option. As early as 2018, Volkswagen announced at the renowned Vienna Motor Symposium that it would make the innovative low-voltage concept accessible to a broad public. Now the Group is delivering on its promise and bringing it into series production this year – with the eighth generation Golf, one of the best-selling vehicles in the world. Initially, the 48V hybrid drive will be available with the EA211 evo family, 1.0 and 1.5l displacement and dual-clutch gearbox (DSG). Volkswagen will then gradually extend the electrification of the drive system to the entire fleet. But what exactly is behind the technology and what are its greatest strengths?

One hybrid, two engines

Compared to current Plug-in Hybrids (PHEV), for example in the Golf GTE and Passat GTE, the mHEV drive (mild hybrid electric vehicle) equipped with 48V technology offers a reduced range of functions, but is significantly more cost-effective. While the Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) charges the battery via the mains with a plug, the mHEV does not have a battery that can be recharged via a plug, but is equipped with a 48V belt starter generator. As an electric motor, this supports the combustion engine in order to increase the drive power according to the situation – for example when accelerating. In deceleration phases, the generator converts the vehicle's kinetic energy and charges the battery with energy that would otherwise be lost. This combination offers Volkswagen the opportunity to electrify conventional powertrains without making major changes. Depending on the driving style, the mHEV system can save about 0.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers.

In detail: 48V technology

In the mHEV engines offered in the new Golf, the Belt-Driven Starter Generator (BSG), an electric motor with 48V operating voltage, acts as a powerful replacement for the generator. When starting up, it also boosts the drive torque via the boost function, thus ensuring greater dynamics and comfort. The starter generator is coupled to the combustion engine. Its power is transmitted to the crankshaft by the belt drive. In addition to the regular 12V on-board battery, the mHEV drive has a 48V lithium-ion battery mounted under the passenger seat. When the driver steps on the brake, the kinetic energy is converted into electrical current. This allows up to 40 percent of the braking energy to be recovered and stored in the battery. A DC/DC converter supplies the conventional 12V grid with voltage.

• Volkswagen Group Research is testing automated vehicles in urban traffic in Hamburg. This is the first time Volkswagen has begun to test automated driving to Level 4 at real driving conditions in a major German city. From now, a fleet of five e-Golf, equipped with laser scanners, cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radars, will drive on a three-kilometer section of the digital test bed for automated and connected driving in the Hanseatic city. The results of the test drives, which will be continuously evaluated taking full account of all data protection rules, will be incorporated in the Group’s numerous research projects on automated driving, and will test customer-centric services and optimize individual transport. 

• Axel Heinrich, Head of Volkswagen Group Research, commented: “The tests center on technical possibilities as well as urban infrastructure requirements. In order to make driving even safer and more comfortable in future, vehicles not only have to become autonomous and more intelligent – cities must also provide a digital ecosystem that enables vehicles to communicate with traffic lights and traffic management systems as well as with one another.”

  A 9-kilometer digital test bed for automated and connected driving is currently being constructed in the city of Hamburg, with completion scheduled for 2020. To that end, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is successively upgrading traffic lights with components for infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. Volkswagen and the city of Hamburg are thus taking a decisive step to further optimizing traffic flows through digitalization and to full-size implementation of automated driving in the city area.

  Michael Westhagemann, Hamburg’s Senator for Economics, Transport and Innovation, said: “Two and a half years from now, Hamburg will be hosting the World Congress for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Automated driving will play a key role. I am delighted that our strategic partner Volkswagen has already become the first user for our digital test bed. We will establish Hamburg as a model city for intelligent mobility and be presenting numerous innovative mobility projects to a global audience in 2021.”

  The e-Golf configured by Volkswagen Group Research have eleven laser scanners, seven radars and 14 cameras. Up to 5 gigabytes of data are communicated per minute during the regular test drives, each of which lasts several hours. Computing power equivalent to some 15 laptops is tucked away in the trunk of the e-Golf. This enormous computing capacity, combined with state-of-the-art sensor technology, ensures that data on pedestrians, cyclists, other cars, intersections, rights of way, parked vehicles and lane changes in moving traffic are captured over the shortest distances and in milliseconds. Despite the diversity and complexity of the information, the artificial intelligence used in the vehicle software must register all relevant objects and respond to them without triggering any false alarms. Several different artificial intelligence approaches are used: these include deep learning, neural networks and pattern recognition.

  For safety reasons, specially trained test drivers will be seated behind the steering wheel during all test drives in Hamburg to constantly monitor all driving functions and intervene in an emergency. Furthermore, all data protection rules will be fully taken into account. 

  Volkswagen Group Research is collaborating with all brands and relevant Group departments to enable the functionality of automated driving on public roads – right through to Level 5. The findings of this project will be successively incorporated in further research and development initiatives. The goal is to be in a position to offer customers concrete products for the automated transport of goods and passengers on public roads a few years from now. This will contribute to lasting improvements in traffic flows and road safety. However, automated driving without a safety driver in public traffic requires changes in the legislative framework and the availability of the necessary infrastructure. 

  The different levels of automated driving
  Level 1: Assisted driving
  Example: ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control)
  Level 2: Partial automation
  Example: Travel Assist (combination of adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist)
  Level 3: Conditional automation 
  Example: Traffic Jam Assist
  Level 4: High automation 
  Example: Park Pilot
  Level 5: Full automation
  Example: Fully self-driving transport

  Article source: http://www.volkswagenag.com

The most powerful Volkswagen in the current model range is now available to order: the Touareg V8 TDI. At 310 kW / 421 PS, it’s one of the most powerful SUVs with a diesel engine in Germany. This 4.0-litre eight-cylinder vehicle has a maximum torque of 900 Newton metres – putting it at the same level as sports super cars. Whether cruising at low speeds, moving fast or going off-road, this power provides superior drive characteristics and makes the Touareg V8 TDI a reliable partner in everyday use. As with the product line’s V6 engines, the new V8 version also meets the requirements of the Euro 6d TEMP emissions standard.

Months before its official world premiere at the IAA international motor show, the next milestone has already been reached: Today, Volkswagen is officially announcing the name of the first model of the new ID. family. It will be called ID.31. The number 3 is significant in two ways. On the one hand, it indicates the ID. as belonging to the compact segment, which is the class distinction in both internal and industry-wide classification systems. On the other, the ID.3 follows the Beetle and the Golf to introduce the third major chapter of strategic importance for the history of the brand.

“With the ID.3, we are starting from the centre, the Volkswagen brand’s core, in which the majority of the models and sales volume can be found. The number 3 also signals expandability into the segments above and below it. We have a lot in the pipeline,” says Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Board of Management Volkswagen Brand for Sales, Marketing & After Sales, offering a preview of Volkswagen’s e-mobility campaign. With this campaign, the brand is willing to become the number one brand globally by 2025, with more than 20 purely electrically driven models and more than a million vehicles sold annually, all of which being both networked and emission-free.

Every member of this model family will bear the name ID., which represents a new, independent series of products in the brand portfolio. While the Beetle once mobilized the masses, and the Golf as the class leader featured great innovations in each generation, the ID. will make e-mobility accessible to a broad spectrum of customers. The name ID. stands for intelligent design, identity and visionary technologies. 

Following the launch of the ID.3, additional models will roll out, such as those previewed by the concept cars ID. CROZZ, ID. VIZZION and ID. ROOMZZ, and which will in the future also be named with model numbers.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com