2012 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid
2012 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid
We will keep you informed when VW began considering building a Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid in 2012. Some exterior modifications can also improve fuel efficiency of a Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, because this is the main goal of the hybrid.
A hybrid version of the Jetta will be offered in the U.S. in 2012—followed by Passat and Golf Hybrids in 2013. The Volkswagen press release states with no lack of confidence: “Starting in 2013, the high-volume Golf and Jetta models of the Volkswagen brand are expected to dominate the hybrid and electric vehicle market.”
It's not confirmed if the 2012 Jetta Hybrid will use a 1.4-liter twincharger engine, or larger versions that Volkswagen is developing.
While the Civic Hybrid first appears to be the closest competition, the Jetta Hybrid more logically stacks up against the TDI version of the same Jetta. (The Jetta will represent the first time an automaker offers hybrid and clean diesel options on a cost-competitive model.)
Expect city and highway fuel efficiency numbers to be reversed in the Jetta Hybrid—with city driving in the 40s and highway mileage in the mid-to high-30 neighborhood. Go diesel. Mostly city driving? Take the hybrid. “The Jetta hybrid is our first entry in that strategy.”
The 2011 Volkswagen Jetta arrives this fall in showrooms, but the German automaker's already planning on two green versions of the new compact four-door for U.S. customers.
The turbodiesel 2.0-liter four-cylinder is essentially the clean diesel found in the 2010 Jetta, with output of 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. The Jetta also will revive the non-turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that puts out 115 horsepower. There's a hitch, though: the twincharged four-cylinder sounds like a costly engine to produce, since hybrid battery packs, superchargers and turbochargers all cost more than a simple four-, five-, or six-cylinder engine. Given that Volkswagen's cutting the price on the Jetta, there may be hope the Hybrid will hit the market for less than $25,000--in the same pricing ballpark as the current Civic Hybrid.
