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VW Sustainability Plan: More than just Engines

It's a pretty well established fact that Clean Diesel is going to be making its

Volkswagen's Head of Powertrain Research, Dr. Wolfgang Steiger, speaks about VW's plans for the future. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

way back to Volkswagen. In fact, VW as a brand will be the first to feature this technology with the Jetta, followed in late 2008 by the Touareg BlueTDI. As exciting as these smooth, efficient and powerful engines are, there is much more to the future of Volkswagen than just diesel despite such strong emphasis on the fuel. Volkswagen's researchers know that it is inevitable that cars of the future must be weaned off fossil fuels, a project that's being led by Dr. Wolfgang Steiger, Head of Powertrain Research who gave attendees of the first German TecDay Symposium a peek behind closed doors.

Like many automakers, Volkswagen has branched out its research in many different directions, exploring potential solutions regarding environmentally friendliness and fuels of the future. For instance, Volkswagen is hard at work developing an engine that blends the best characteristics of gasoline and diesel propulsion in a unit it calls “CCS”. CCS is a similar concept to homogeneous compression charge ignition (HCCI), but thanks to

HyMotion demonstrates 2010's fuel cell technology today. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

advancements in fuel (more on that in a moment), and a slightly different cycle, its unit is capable at running at higher engine speeds and higher loads, common to everyday driving, something existing powerplants cannot do.

Research regarding the all-important fuel cell vehicle is also underway, demonstrated by the brand's efforts with the Touran HyMotion fuel cell hybrid. Volkswagen has found a way to conquer one of the biggest problems of existing fuel cell vehicles – lifespan. By developing a new fuel cell system that runs at a temperature optimized for the creation of electricity from hydrogen, it avoids the premature degradation of the fuel cell catalyst, one of the most expensive components in the fuel cell. Volkswagen has managed to shrink the fuel stack to fit in the engine bay, while keeping the range at 120 miles and offering plenty of real world performance. The HyMotion represents a strong step forward in this sector.

Where some manufacturers are working on ways of making powerplants better, Volkswagen

The fate of the internal combustion engine could very well have to do with the success of SunFuel. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

is also working to make fuels better. It has teamed up with Shell and Canada's Iogen to create man-made fuels, something Dr. Steiger believes is the key to the future. SynFuel is a synthetic fuel derived from natural gas, but there appears to be bigger emphasis on SunFuel, a second generation biofuel, which focuses on cellulose (plant material) and something called "Biomass to Liquid". Whereas current first-generation bioethanol and biodiesel is made from the fruit of the plant (corn, wheat), SunFuel can be synthesized from just about any plant matter. Why fuel cars from food when people are still going hungry, or use precious land to grow fuel crops, when it can be created from waste and scraps such as straw or husks?

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