VW presents electric mobility research

Volkswagen, in cooperation with six project partners and the German Ministry of the Environment, is presenting the current status of the ‘Fleet study in electric mobility’ that was initiated in July 2008. The primary goal of the project, which runs until June 2012, is to consistently utilise renewable energy sources for electrically powered vehicles. Within the framework of the fleet study, Volkswagen is using a total of 20 of the latest generation Golf Variant TwinDrive cars as research vehicles.
April 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

RSS994 Volkswagen, in cooperation with six project partners and the German Ministry of the Environment, is presenting the current status of the ‘Fleet study in electric mobility’ that was initiated in July 2008. The primary goal of the project, which runs until June 2012, is to consistently utilise renewable energy sources for electrically powered vehicles. Within the framework of the fleet study, Volkswagen is using a total of 20 of the latest generation Golf Variant TwinDrive cars as research vehicles.

The plug-in hybrid drives operate with zero emissions in urban operation using an electric motor, enabling distances of up to 57 km on pure electrical power; an additional small internal combustion engine provides for a total range of about 900 km. According to Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen chairman, his company’s TwinDrive system “sets new standards and could, over the mid-term, develop into the ideal form of mobility for the vast majority of car drivers.”

The ‘Fleet study in electric mobility’ is now assuming a high level of importance in the wake of events in Japan and the German federal government’s mandatory exit from nuclear energy production. According to plans by the federal government, the number of pure electric vehicles will reach one million units in Germany alone by 2020. And these vehicles must be operated sustainably – from renewable energy sources – to attain significant progress in environmental protection.

“Electric mobility will be a century-long endeavour for Europe as a centre of automotive production and industry. Carmakers, suppliers, energy providers, scientists and politicians – everyone must step up to the plate,” says Winterkorn. In Germany, the ‘Fleet study in electric mobility’ is bringing together precisely these partners.


The fleet study is being conducted by six project partners from research and commerce under the leadership of Volkswagen. Representing the energy industry is energy provider E.ON. From the research area, the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft ISIT (representation of the battery systems and development of new battery chemistry), Heidelberger Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU; creating eco-balance), the 4572 German Aerospace Centre (DLR; analysis, forecasting traffic scenarios) and the Westphalian Wilhelm University in Münster (development of methodologies, laboratory testing of battery cells) are contributing their expertise and know-how to the fleet study.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The Canadian way
    July 16, 2012
    Delcan has developed an ITS project evaluation methodology for Transport Canada. Victor Bruzon explains how it will assist in selecting and managing programmes. ITS projects offer a cost-effective solution for many transportation problems. Individual projects are often not evaluated and such evaluations can be restricted by limited data, the ability of ITS to affect only a portion of the transport network, and by evaluation methodologies that were developed with more traditional transport investments in min
    Read More
  • Electric buses: more billion dollar orders
    August 3, 2015
    China will spend up to one trillion dollars on electric buses over the coming 15 years according to analysts IDTechEx. This will reduce the impact of over 22.5 trillion dollars from air pollution over that time, at least one percent of GDP. More insurrection will occur if corrective action is insufficient because hundreds of thousands are dying from traffic pollution and far more are suffering resultant serious disease. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), outdoor air pollution caused 3.7 m
    Read More
  • Prospects for intercity transport technology
    February 1, 2012
    Magnetic levitation has been dismissed as unproven, too costly, or pie in the sky. It's time to reappraise it. With the unveiling by China (see News section, page 10) of its own, home-grown magnetic levitation train, it would be odd if politicians, policy-makers and the ITS industry did not want to take a closer look at the 'unproven' technology that is magnetic levitation. Fortunately, doing so is easy. The non-profit International Society for Maglev Transportation (The International Maglev Board) has an e
    Read More
  • Prospects for intercity transport technology
    February 6, 2012
    Magnetic levitation has been dismissed as unproven, too costly, or pie in the sky. It's time to reappraise it
    Read More

Highlighted Content