At the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, Volkswagen is showcasing its concept of an SUV of the future: the VW Cross Coupé. Visually the all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid vehicle shows how Volkswagen designers could envisage a crossover between a four-door coupé and a compact SUV. The design team led by Walter de Silva and Klaus Bischoff have created a fascinating study that impressively combines the best of two worlds. Original, strong in character, sculptural and dynamic, the Volkswagen Cross Coupé stands for the future of SUV design at Volkswagen!
Pioneering technologies. Technically too the very sporty Volkswagen Cross Coupé concept car defines a new status, being based on Volkswagen's new modular transverse matrix (MQB) - the first such model ever to be publicly shown. Features of the Cross Coupé consequently include strikingly short bodywork overhangs. The four-seat SUV is powered by two electric motors (1 x front, 1 x rear) and a direct injection turbo petrol engine (TSI). The Volkswagen Cross Coupé can drive a distance of up to 40 kilometres purely on electric power. The all-wheel drive system with 'electric drive shaft' represents an innovation for Volkswagen, with the rear axle being driven by the rear of the two electric motors. In this situation power is supplied to the rear electric motor by the one at the front, which during this phase acts as a generator powered by the TSI engine. In the Cross Coupé the flow of electrical energy thus replaces the conventional transfer of power by means of a drive shaft. And that creates room on board the concept car for another important technology: the centre tunnel, usually the place for the drive shaft, houses the lithium ion battery (tunnel battery) on the VW Cross Coupé. The low position of the battery and the general layout of the drive systems give the vehicle a very low centre of gravity and facilitate a balanced spread of axle loading. Although equipped with the all-round qualities of an SUV, the concept car therefore demonstrates the dynamic handling of a coupé.
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