Volkswagen head of development Frank Welsch recently revealed that the automaker will soon add a mild hybrid system to a Golf-sized model. Although VW hasn’t confirmed which new model will get the 48-volt mild hybrid system, there’s a strong possibility that the upcoming T-Roc crossover will get it.
“Once we have it in an MQB-based model it’s more or less plug and play,” Welsch revealed to Automotive News Europe. “We can put it on other models because we have a modular platform.”
The MQB platform is used for several of VW’s models, including the Polo, Golf, Tiguan as well as the new T-Roc. We should get more details soon, since the T-Roc is expected to go into production later this month or early next month, which means that its reveal can’t be too far away. The T-Roc is going to go on sale in Europe first, but buyers in the United States will have to wait at least a year, since it won’t arrive until closer to 2019.
When asked which Golf sized model will get the new mild-hybrid system, Welsch stated, “When I do development of these technologies it is not important which car gets it first. We have to have the technology ready and then we decide which car will get it first and in which market. We are in the middle of developing this, but it will definitely come.”
VW’s Audi also recently revealed that the next-generation 2018 Audi A8 will also come standard with a mild-hybrid system. We can likely expect more VW Group models to get a mild-hybrid system as it looks for an alternative to diesel engines.
Source: Automotive News