PATREONItems tagged with VW
Volkswagen has been working to electrify its lineup of vehicles to meet ever-increasing emission standards in Europe and around the world. While hybrid vehicles are a big part of those electrification efforts, VW is also working on fully electric vehicles such as the ID.4 electric crossover. Some new images of the ID.4 have surfaced online that show a very clean design without the quirky style that some automakers tend to favor for EVs and hybrids. The ID.4 is a crucial vehicle for Volkswagen as more consumers gravitate towards SUVs, and market share for cars declines. VW also needs a win with a vehicle seen as good for the environment after its legal problems with the dieselgate emissions cheating...
Read more...
The head of the VW brand in North America is Reinhard Fischer, and he has been talking about the market acceptance of electric vehicles. He says when EVs reach price parity with traditional internal combustion engines, that will be the tipping point for the EV industry. And according to Fischer, that the tipping point is closer than ever before. Fischer believes when pricing parity is reached, new consumers will come to the EV segment, not just the early adopters. He also says that once consumers overcome the early fears of the EV, it will be the better choice for most people. VW has several electric vehicles amongst the 12 brands that are part of the VW group. Brands that are part of that...
Read more...
Apple and Volkswagen have announced that they have partnered to build autonomous vans for transporting Apple workers. The announcement of the agreement came Wednesday night and the plan is to take the VW T6 Transporter vans and turn them into autonomous shuttles. The vans will be fitted with Apple's own autonomous technology, something Apple was showing off last December. Apple opted to make a deal with VW after attempts to work something out with Mercedes-Benz and BMW failed to materialize. Apple currently boasts the second largest autonomous vehicle fleet in California with 55 vehicles. The only autonomous fleet larger than Apple's is from automaker GM with 104 vehicles in its own fleet....
Read more...
Volkswagen has taken a beating in the U.S. market after it was discovered years ago that the automaker was purposely cheating with software designed to help its popular diesel cars pass emissions testing. VW is trying to put that behind it and get Americans interested in its cars again. A new concept called the Atlas Tanoak has debuted at the New York International Auto Show and with the market for mid-size trucks being so hot right now this could be exactly what VW needs to woo American buyers. VW says that the Atlas Tanoak gets its name from a species of tree that is native to the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and can grow up to 135-feet high. The Tanoak is the first pickup that is based on the...
Read more...
Volkswagen's reputation is still somewhat stained by its diesel emissions scandal, and the company has been working overtime to erase that debacle from the memory of customers with its efforts in electric vehicles. The latest product of this "green" push is the new I.D. Vizzion all-electric concept that debuted today at the Geneva Auto Show. This is just the latest of VW's I.D. EV concepts and will represent the flagship vehicle in this product family. This particular sedan is built using VW's corporate MEB vehicle architecture, and is quite large for an electric vehicle (EV). It has a lengthy 122-inch wheelbase and measures 203.3 inches in length. For comparison, the Tesla Model S has a wheelbase...
Read more...
While Volkswagen is in the midst of Dieselgate and is preparing to begin vehicle buybacks in the United States, the German automaker is betting its future on electric vehicles. Although American customers only have one Volkswagen EV to choose from today, the e-Golf, the company is forecasting that 20 to 25 percent of its sales volume will comprise of EVs by the year 2025. One vehicle that is expected to headline Volkswagen’s EV push is the I.D. The compact EV is built on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB) platform and is roughly the same size as today’s MK7 Golf. The I.D. is slightly shorter than the Golf, but its wheelbase is comparable to that of the midsize Passat sedan. That will translate...
Read more...
If you own a Volkswagen Group vehicle that was manufactured within the last twenty years, chances are that a hacker would be able make their way into your “locked” vehicle with ease. A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham, led by Flavio Garcia, were able to clone the keyless entry codes used by Volkswagen vehicles simply by being within “a few tens of meters” of a fob when it is activated by its rightful owner. The scope of this vulnerability is massive, encompassing roughly 100 million Volkswagen Group vehicles manufactured since 1996. Affected brands include Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda. The remote entry hack is ongoing, as the researchers were able to determine that the...
Read more...
The finish line is in sight for Volkswagen, and more importantly, diesel owners that were innocently caught up in the German auto giant’s emissions cheating scandal. Although an official settlement offer is expected to be revealed on June 28th, sources close to Volkswagen are revealing that the company will pay $10.2 billion to settle the matter. That $10.2 billion figure includes penalties that Volkswagen will have to pay to the United States environmental agencies, and funds to buyback affected diesel vehicles that can’t be brought into compliance with EPA requirements the company has cheated for years. Customers will also be given a separate cash payment as a goodwill gesture for their inconvenience...
Read more...
Well folks, here’s the first of Volkswagen’s actions to “make customers” whole with regards to #DieselGate. In case you need a refresher, Volkswagen admitted to installing a “defeat device” on 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engines (under the TDI brand name), allowing them to ace the EPA’s emissions tests. However, under normal driving conditions, the vehicles emitted harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) up to 40 times greater than what’s legally permissible. In the wake of the scandal, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down, the number of affected vehicles swelled to over 11 million worldwide, and resale value for affected TDI vehicles in the U.S. have plummeted (even gasoline-engine Volkswagens...
Read more...
Well, that didn’t take long. Less than a week after a wide-ranging emissions cheating scandal broke involving diesel-engine cars sold in the United States, Martin Winterkorn has announced that he is stepping down from his post as Volkswagen CEO. Although we have a feeling that Winterkorn was kicked out the door with a well-shined wingtip, we’ll just follow the party line that he “resigned.” Earlier this week, Winterkorn attempted to put a brave face on the serious situation, stating, “I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public. We will cooperate fully with the responsible agencies, with transparency and urgency, to clearly, openly, and completely...
Read more...
Things just keep getting worse for Volkswagen, but it only has itself to blame for its newfound troubles. We’ve already told you about the emissions scandal that the German automaker is currently embroiled in, but it looks as though the number of affected vehicles is way more than the 482,000 that were sold in the United States between 2008 and 2015. Volkswagen has confirmed that the software cheat that it used to game the EPA’s emissions tests with its Type EA 189 diesel engines was actually used worldwide. As a result, the United States’ EPA is the least of Volkswagen’s troubles at this point. In total, over 11 million vehicles have this software installed which makes passing emissions test...
Read more...
This is just the beginning of what will no doubt be a long, public, and very expensive flogging for German automaker Volkswagen. We reported late last week that the company got caught cheating on U.S. EPA emissions tests by using a “defeat device.” To put it succinctly, VW programed the engine control units (ECU) of its vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter diesel engines to operate more cleanly when it detected that the EPA’s usual battery of emissions tests were being performed. However, under normal driving situations, the vehicles were emitting far more harmful pollutants into the air — in some cases up to 40 times the level of nitrogen oxides (NOx) than what’s permissible. Now that VW’s wide-scale...
Read more...
Whoa, Nelly! Volkswagen has gotten caught with its hands in the cookie jar, and its offense is pretty egregious. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accused the Volkswagen Group of purposefully programming its engine control units (ECU) to detect when federally-mandated emissions tests are being run on vehicle. When laboratory testing is detected, a so-called “defeat device” is triggered that allows the vehicle’s engine to run in a special mode allowing it to pass emissions tests with flying colors. There’s one big problem with this scheme, however; when the vehicle is driven under normal circumstances, it is not operating in a EPA-certified, emission-legal state. In fact, the vehicles...
Read more...
Autonet Mobile has been around for years, believe it or not. We know -- it's not like you've actually seen Wi-Fi in too many cars, but the company has been installing its services in vehicles for quite some time. Just recently, however, the service has begun to gain real traction in America, and we don't think it's a coincidence that inflight Wi-Fi has caught on at the same time. Let's face it: individuals are finding it harder and harder to live without a Web connection, so it's a golden opportunity for companies such as this to bring the Internet to places it has rarely been before.In a blockbuster announcement with Volkswagen, Autonet Mobile has proclaimed that it has signed an agreement to...
Read more...
The Teac DV-W50D DVD±R/RW Drive The Best of Both Worlds on a Budget By, Jeff Bouton August 28, 2003 As DVD burners have gone mainstream, they've also evolved into an economical burning solution, but this wasn't always the case. When DVD writers were first introduced a few years ago, they got everyone's attention with their functionality and their high price. We saw initial offerings in excess of $600 yet today the prices have dropped below the $200 mark. With pricing becoming less of an issue, the only thing left to decide is which format is the best choice for you. Since the first DVD writers were introduced there has been a format war raging. The two choices,...
Read more...
