Skip to main content

The e-Golf Could Go to the Races

The e-Golf is currently VW’s only electric offering in North America, but until recently it was limited to the CARB states. So how shall VW get people across America excited about it? By going to the races, of course.

Volkswagen has, in the past, expressed an interest in an electric rallycross series, and if such a series gets off the ground, they’re likely to race with an e-Golf.

With its newfound love of all things electric, the perfect way to dispell the EV’s reputation for wheezy performance is a race car, and according to VW, rallycross is the perfect place to show off everything they can do.

“We are very, very committed to electric vehicles going forward globally as a brand,” said Greg Lucia, Head of Experiential Marketing, at a recent roundtable interview following a rallycross race in Indianapolis. He added that VW is committed to going racing in an electric series run by Red Bull Global Rallycross.

grc_ottawa_2017_7253

Volkswagen already dominates the Red Bull Global Rallycross Series with its Beetles GRC, driven by series leaders Tanner Foust and Scott Speed, but a future e-GRC race car would not look the same.

“That would not be a Beetle. The Beetle won’t be an electric platform for us going forward, so it would be a different platform,” said Lucia. “The Beetle won’t be available in any country for Volkswagen as an E offering, so we wouldn’t go racing with it.”

What it will be isn’t known yet, but seeing as how the e-Golf is the brand’s current electric leader, that’s what makes the most sense.

2017_e-golf_6659

“We would want it to match what we’re selling,” said Lucia. “The e-Golf is a very successful brand for us, both globally and in the US, so that would make the most sense for it.”

What may remain from the team’s current GRC program is the team running it. Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross has been running VW’s US rallycross team since 2014, and the pairing has been very successful.

On top of its drivers currently holding first and second place in the series, the Beetle has won the last two championships.

“With our relationship with Andretti we would not consider anything outside of that,” said Lucia. “So we are very committed to Andretti and a future with them.”

For his part, Michael Andretti, Andretti Autosport’s owner and CEO, said that he too was interested in the series.

“I’m all about this,” he said. “I’m hoping it’ll go E. It’s the perfect place to showcase [electric cars], so I’m all in.”

And that’s good news for VW since Andretti already has electric motorsport experience. The team has been racing in Formula E since 2014 and today announced a partnership with BMW for a full factory-backed team next year, experience that would come in handy in an e-GRC series.

scott_speed_and_tanner_foust_4991

Even the drivers are on board. GRC points leader, Tanner Foust said that rallycross is the perfect exhibition for EVs.

“All the benefits of electric are what you’re looking for in your performance advantage in rallycross: lots of torque, lots of traction,” said Foust. “Because the races are short, it means that you’re not limited by that factor.”

Foust’s Beetle is among the fastest accelerating cars in motorsport, but he argued that you could go even faster with an electric powertrain.

“A 5,000 lb Tesla goes 0-60 in 2.3 seconds, so I think our cars would be a hell of a lot faster if you take 2,000 lbs out of that and put in a racing drivetrain going to the ground and a proper suspension,” said Foust. “I just got my pilot’s license for this reason.”

That all depends on an e-GRC series coming to fruition. Until then, Foust will have to continue putting his pilot’s license to use catching air in his 2.0-liter turbo Beetle GRC.

The post The e-Golf Could Go to the Races appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2uO8rDk
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volkswagen’s Gone to California with Grand California Camper

Volkswagen is bringing the California XXL concept to production. It will debut at the Dusseldorf Caravan Salon as the Grand California. It’s set to be based on the medium wheelbase Crafter van. That’s the company’s full-size commercial van, larger than the T6 Transporter based California. The high roof means room for adults to stand up, though it won’t get the concept’s extended length. The Grand California offers a full wet bathroom. It’s not exactly spacious, though, measuring in at around 31.5 x 33-inches. A toilet, shower, and sink are all crammed into that space, but at least there are motion sensor lights to stop you from reaching for a switch. Standard, the Grand California it comes with berths for two adults. Space for two children is optional, but they’ll be stuck in a berth amove the driver’s area. The kitchen offers a sink, stove, and two fridges. The front seats swivel to add seating space when the RV is parked. It’s also got solar panels, an integrated satellite dish,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volkswagen Group Records Best Ever First-Half-of-Year Sales

With 5.5 million vehicles in customer hands after the first six months of 2018, the Volkswagen Group is seeing the best performance of its history. Group deliveries increased significantly in all core regions,” said Fred Kappler, head of sales for the Group. “Our core brands recorded strong growth in the first half year.” For the year-to-date, all of Volkswagen’s brands had sales bumps. MAN, SEAT, and Skoda led the sales charge with performances 24%, 17% and 11% better than the previous year. The big sellers, too, had strong sales periods, with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, and Volkswagen sales rising 3.5%, 4.5% and 6.3% respectively. That last figure is particularly good new for the board, since Volkswagen alone sold more than 3 million vehicles in the first half of 2018. As Kappler stated, the numbers are equally good when you break sales down by region. Brazil and Russia were the most improved markets (22% and 20%, respectively), while strong sales in Europe and China (u...
2 comments
Read more