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is able to make use of another advantage: the turning circle of the electric “Bulli” is just eleven metres – similar to that of the compact Golf. This guarantees driving pleasure in even the tightest of spaces, making it perfectly suited for the city and narrow car parks. Battery replacement vs. battery charging As the range of the T2 electric van was only about 85 kilometres, a highly-innovative – for the time – battery changing system was employed in 1978 during a fleet test with seven T2 in Berlin. At the changing station in the Tiergarten district, it took just five minutes to replace an empty battery with a fully-charged one. This drastically reduced the waiting times of several hours, which would have been required for the charging process. The principle of battery replacement is no longer used these days – not least because charging performance has improved immeasurably. Take the ID. Buzz, for example: Thanks to a maximum charging capacity of 170 kW at rapid charging stations, batteries can be charged from five to 80 percent in roughly half an hour. Energy recovery system already to be found on the T2 When it comes to energy management, Volkswagen was already progressive in the 1970s. The T2 electric van already possessed an energy recovery system, which recovered kinetic energy under braking and then used this energy to charge the battery. A technological tour de force at the time, this is now taken for granted. This technology has been refined and optimised for the ID. Buzz(((ID.

While the Zwickau plant built more than 100 body versions for previous Golf models, often there are only two variations for the latest electric models. The advantage being more efficient production and reduced costs. 4. Fresh knowledge Volkswagen invested 1.2 billion euros in converting Zwickau, to make it the first major vehicle production plant to only build electric cars. Training all 8,000 of the employees was a key factor. The Zwickau workforce completed more than 20,000 days of electric mobility training – 1,500 employees alone have obtained the high-voltage driving licence. The Zwickau workforce started preparing for their new tasks well before the first electric models entered production – trainer Frank Schönfelder teaches two employees. 5. Even greater pride Zwickau has produced powerful cars such as the Golf and Passat in the past – but electric mobility has made the site a pioneer. “Zwickau has been in the Champions League of automotive engineering since the start-up of the electric models. This is something many people can identify with,” said Frank Schemmel. The additional pride is reflected in high quality and high levels of commitment. 6. Strong team It’s not just the core workforce working at the multi-brand plant in Zwickau – they are supported by teams from Volkswagen, Audi and CUPRA. More than 100 specialists from each brand help with the model start-ups, including experts in production, development, procurement and quality assurance. Even after the vehicle start-ups, Volkswagen experts from other plants, as well as Audi and CUPRA specialists remain at the Zwickau site. Robert Pahlow: “This is hugely beneficial because it allows us to clarify many questions quickly.”

The Golf designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro appeared under the leadership of Rudolf Leiding. “This car not only represented a global breakthrough for the transversely mounted front engine, with front-wheel drive, but also created a whole new class: the ‘Golf class’!” The Golf starts the “turnaround” After differences of opinion about strategy, Hahn left Volkswagen AG in 1973, becoming Chairman of the Board at Continental Gummi-Werke AG in Hanover until 1982. However, the strong connection to Wolfsburg saw him return to assume the position of Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen in 1982 after Toni Schmücker retired due to health concerns. Hahn broke new ground by entering into a spectacular joint venture agreement with China, featuring trial assembly of the new Santana model. “To this day, this model is referred to as ‘The Spirit of Motoring’ in China,” emphasises Hahn. The automotive effect of the Santana in China was similar to that which the Beetle had prompted in Europe. After the GDR had received 10,000 Golfs in exchange for machine tools as part of the compensation transactions of 1977, Hahn worked on developing relations between the two German states. The head of Volkswagen was a big racing fan and pushed the 16V and the legendary G60 versions of the Golf II. In 1988, the sporty Corrado coupé also featured the mechanical G-Lader, followed by the VR6 engine from 1991. The latter was then included in the Golf III, introduced in 1991. “I would have liked to have had the six-cylinder in the Golf II,” reveals Hahn during the reunion with the cars that shaped his life. 16V, G-Lader and Corrado developed under Hahn After leaving the position of Chairman of the Board of Management at the end of 1992, Carl H. Hahn moved onto the Volkswagen AG Supervisory Board, remaining a member until June 1997. He still makes the daily commute to his office in the heart of Wolfsburg, located in the buildings of the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg that he initiated.

In addition to Diamond Silver, Mars Red was the colour of the very first Golf GTI. A real “dream team” – and perhaps even something of a pioneer? Absolutely. The GTI and the colour red belonged together from the word go. Sporty models have always been characterised by the connection “powerful and red”. The colour has a strong symbolism: red is blood, red is fire. The colour triggers feelings of activity, energy and a zest for life in us. This makes red the perfect brand colour to use for performance models: You associate it with driving pleasure and it attracts a lot of attention. Tornado Red followed in 1986 – the colour for high-performance cars for decades. Countless top models of their time had the power paintwork, for example, Golf II GTI 16V, Corrado G60, Golf III VR6, Golf R32 or Golf GTI TCR. Why was that red such a good fit? Tornado Red is a very dominant, positive and loud colour, which can be seen from afar. The complete opposite of a soft blue or innocent white. Tornado Red is a successful, timeless plain shade that is a really good fit for our sporty models – incidentally, this is the shade we used to develop our new performance highlight colour Kings Red Metallic. Since the first GTI, red elements have remained sporty hallmarks. Is it fair to say that red is a common theme in the design of Volkswagen’s high-performance models? Red is power. That’s what we want our performance models to get across at first sight – including the details. Which is why we use red as an accent colour, which is continued in the stitching or the standard diamond pattern, for example. A common theme, in many ways, which has now established itself as a hallmark of sportiness and power, yes. … and that is carried on in the ID.4 GTX? Definitely. We deliberately picked up on this common theme for the ID.4 GTX and reinterpreted it.

The car goes from 0 to 100 in 6.2 seconds, which is faster than the Golf GTI. And because the battery is located like a weight on the floor of the car, the ID.4 GTX has a much lower centre of gravity than conventional SUVs – giving it more contact with the road surface The ID.4 GTX has dual engine four-wheel drive, meaning electric four-wheel drive with two independent electric motors – one on the front axle and one on the rear axle … Bekemeier: … which always springs into action when needed – for example, when the driver wants to experience sporty driving pleasure. However, the electric engine at the rear can handle the drive on its own in most everyday situations. We opted for a permanent magnet synchronous motor here because it is very efficient. However, there is an asynchronous motor on the front axle. This has other advantages – it is very compact and lightweight, and produces only minimal drag losses when it also runs without power. Does this mean the dual engine four-wheel drive is particularly efficient in the ID.4 GTX? Obernolte: Yes, it is. It works without a clutch and drive shaft, so without the large components that cause friction loss in mechanical four-wheel drive. In the ID.4 GTX we only need to switch electricity – but as intelligently and efficiently as possible. This includes making the right recuperation mode – meaning the energy recovery mode – that is most efficient for the driving situation available during deceleration phases. This further reduces consumption and increases the range.

Pro racer Benjamin Leuchter drives a Golf R in everyday life. But it isn’t just the car’s 235 kW (320 PS) that drew him in: Leuchter appreciates the new Golf’s assistance systems. A warm spring morning, an on-site visit in Wolfsburg. Once again, Benjamin “Benny” Leuchter is the first to arrive. Today he guides his Golf R to the agreed meeting place a little bit early. Is this down to his profession? Leuchter is a racing driver. He grins: “Look, only half a tank to drive the 350 kilometres from my home town of Duisburg to here. Not bad for a car with 235 kW!” Leuchter is full of praise for his ‘company car’, particularly its sound and drive. Power and sound are what car fans really love about the top-of-the-range Golf. But that is by no means all. See what the car “sees” Professionally, Leuchter’s main job is to drive cars dynamically. Today, he is demonstrating how his Golf helps him drive – and how it visualises his capabilities. The most digital Golf of all time displays what is happening around the car in its Digital Cockpit Pro. With appealing graphics, it clearly visualises the information, with which the assistance systems are working, how far the digital eyes can see and what exactly it is that they see. “It gives me an in-depth understanding of the assistance systems. I am aware of what the car is observing,” said Leuchter. Some of this is shown by the digital cockpit in the basic version of the new Golf. But the optional driving assistant Travel Assist and its plethora of functions are where things get really exciting. So, a piece of transparency that visualises the technology of the new Golf. This was what the developers at Volkswagen were aiming for. But not only that. For Daniel Basse, function developer of the Travel Assist surroundings model, the fascination with technology is equally important.

It all began in 2002 with the Golf R32. Volkswagen R has been exciting its global community of fans with the Volkswagen brand’s most sporty and emotional models ever since. Volkswagen R has just delivered its 250,000th R model to a customer in Zurich. The special customer, Flavio Zwahlen, bought the current Golf R, the most powerful and dynamic series Golf of all times. Equipped with 320 PS, four-wheel drive and R-Performance torque vectoring, the Golf R impresses customers with its driving dynamics and look. The jubilee model is actually Flavio Zwahlen’s second Golf R. “It is the perfect car for me thanks to its inconspicuous sportiness, first-class interior and incredible sound. With the help of the 4MOTION drive system, the Golf R is also ideal for the mountains.” Peter Jost, the Head of Marketing and Sales for the Volkswagen R, said it was hardly a coincidence that the 250,000th R jubilee model was sold to a customer in Switzerland: “Switzerland is a very important market for Volkswagen R – also because of the country’s high affinity for performance and four-wheel drive. The R models are really popular here.” In addition to the Golf R32 and the other Golf R generations, Volkswagen R developed and made the models Passat R36, Touareg R50, Scirocco R and Golf R convertible. The R brand and its vehicle models fascinate their customers and are currently making a major financial contribution to VW’s transition to e-mobility.

From GTI to GTX With the Golf GTI, Volkswagen launched a sports car for everyone in 1976 – and, in doing so, had its finger on the pulse of the times. With more than two million cars sold across eight generations, the Golf GTI is now one of the most successful compact sports cars in the world. The latest generation of the Golf GTI arrived in 2020: digital, connected, sharper, and easier to drive than ever. A connected driving dynamics manager provides for even better performance. The successful sports car has long since received support from the Golf GTD. Sporting a powerful 2.0 TDI engine, the latest generation of the endurance sports car is more powerful, economic and lower in emissions than ever before. A turbo diesel version first enhanced the GTI concept back in 1982. With the Golf GTE, a hybrid drive combines electric sustainability with great dynamism. Thanks to additional electric power, the latest model – presented in 2020 – is capable of the same level of performance as the Golf GTI. The first Golf GTE enjoyed its premiere back in 2014. The ID.4 GTX is the new top model in the fully electric ID.4 range.