Volkswagen have unveiled their latest SUV, the CrossBlue Coupé, at the ongoing Shanghai Auto Show in China.
The new CrossBlue features Volkswagen’s family styling but brings along its fair share of sharp lines and edges which give it a sporty and rather aggressive stance. It is built on Volkswagen’s MQB, or Modular Transverse Matrix component set, which allows for further flexibility with the option of using four or six cylinders engines with petrol, diesel or CNG fuel systems. The CrossBlue Coupé is almost 5 metres long but don’t let that make you believe it isn’t sporty. Under that sharpened exterior is where Volkswagen have given it some truly outstanding means of propulsion.
BlueMotion technology has been Volkswagen’s USP on many of their best-selling models, but the CrossBlue Coupé takes efficiency to a new plane. The drivetrain, a plug-in hybrid system, is what we can expect to see in many future Volkswagens. At the heart of it all is a turbocharged, direct-injection, 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine which is joined by not one, but two electric motors: 40 kW up front, and 85 kW at the rear. The total combined output is 415 PS and is transferred via a six-speed twin-clutch DSG (direct-shift gearbox). The peak torque from the engine alone is 500 Nm, available from just 1,800 rpm. The electric motors are capable of producing upto 180 Nm (front) and 270 Nm (rear) immediately. The combined torque output is 700 Nm.
A five-seater, the CrossBlue Coupé is 4,889 mm long, 2015 mm wide, and just 1,679 mm high and rides on a 2980 mm wheelbase; much more than the Touareg. It offers a massive 537 litres of boot space with all the seats up. While it weighs 2,220 kgs with the onboard 9.8 kWh battery pack, the performance figures speak for themselves: 0-100 km/h takes just 5.9 seconds and the top speed is 235 km/h. That’s not where the numbers end. In fact, the truly astounding ones are just about to begin. The CrossBlue Coupé can go 33 kms on pure electricity. In this mode, the engine shuts off and is decoupled and only the rear electric motor drives the car, as long as the battery has sufficient charge. In hybrid mode, the fuel efficiency is 3.0 litres per 100 kms, or 33.3 km/l. With a depleted battery, it drops to 6.9 litres per 100 kms, or 14.5 km/l, when powered by the TSI V6 engine. There’s also a “boost” mode which allows all four wheels to be driven. Furthermore, there’s also a “TSI” mode which uses just the engine. This mode is purely front wheel drive. The CrossBlue Coupé is equipped with an 80-litre tank which, all things considered, gives it a theoretical range of just under 1,200 kms.
The CrossBlue Coupé will soon take production guise, and going by the response Volkswagen gets for its new baby, we can assume it isn’t too far away.
