Volkswagen has made an unusually strong statement with the CrossBlue Coupe concept, which has just been officially revealed in Shanghai, not only with the bolder than usual styling, but also with a look-at-me paint finish. The message is clear – they want to attract attention and have succeeded in doing so. Now, we can add to our previous article, where we… covered styling, with fresh technical details straight from VW.
The CrossBlue Coupe is longer, wider and less tall than VW’s Touareg, measuring 4.89 meters in length, 2.01 meters in width and 1.68 meters in height. Also, with 0-100 km/h (0-62mph) coming up in 5.9 seconds and a top speed of 235 km/h (147 mph) it’s no slouch, thanks to its “Twin Drive” powertrain.
It has a peak power output of 409HP /415PS, sent to all four wheels through a six-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission. The main part of the power is provided by a 291HP / 295PS three-liter turbocharged gasoline-fed V6, while electric motors mounted on the front and rear axles add the difference.
They draw their juice from a nine kWh battery pack, which is good for an all-electric range of 33 km (~ 20 miles). EV mode can be maintained up to a speed 120 km/h (75 mph), so highway cruising sans using petrol is a possibility.
The main benefit of the hybrid system is, of course, the extra efficiency, and VW claims the concept is good for 6.9 l/100 km/h (40.9 mpg UK / 34.1 mpg US) without the aid of the electric motors, and with them working as they should, that can be boosted to as low/high as 3.0 l/100km, which equates to 79 mpg US or 94.1 mpg UK. This means that with the 80-liter fuel tank brimmed, a range of around 1,200 km (~745 miles) can be achieved.
Volkswagen says the concept has “five comfortable seats”, which are upholstered in Nappa leather. The people behind this interior really deserve credit, because despite looking like something you would expect to see in a concept, it appears to be fully-functional, with all the controls you’d expect to find. Judging by the way it looks and how it appears to be put together, it could make it into production in this form – it even has two cup holders in the center console, and a cubby space right next to them.
Aside from the unavoidable speculation, it gets a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and an even bigger 12.3-inch “cockpit display” – the digital gauge cluster. Also, in a similar manner to the Tesla Model S, all buttons aside for the hazard lights have been turned into touch-sensitive panels. Oh, and it gets two iPads, mounted on each of the front seats’ headrests.
By Andrei Nedelea
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