German automaker Volkswagen has gone all green at this year’s CES as it unveils its BUDD-e Concept and e-Golf Touch vehicles, both sporting the latest technology. Let’s take a quick look at the new cars.
Elektrik Kombi Koncept
Volkswagen is quick to set 2015 aside after its much publicized Clean Diesel Scandal. At CES, the car manufacturer apologized for the scandal and sort of made up for it by unveiling its electric “kombi” dubbed the BUDD-e Concept.
The BUDD-e Concept is based on the German company’s Modular Electric Platform, which is specifically designed for electric vehicles. To make the BUDD-e as specious as possible, the MEP is designed to have the front and rear engines as far away from each other. The BUDD-e has a 103kWh battery, which according to the New European Driving Cycle can achieve a whopping 373 miles. But in the real world, you’ll get less than 300 miles on one charge—which also isn’t bad at all if you think about it.
Inside the BUDD-e Concept is vastly different from the sparse of the old Kombi. The BUDD-e Concept’s dashboard isn’t your typical dashboard either. In fact, it looks like three-panel, multi-monitor display.
Unfortunately, as concepts go, there Volkswagen isn’t putting the BUDD-e Concept into production. It’s just a way for the German company what it is capable of especially when it comes to green vehicles after the snafu of the Clean Diesel Scandal.
The Touch-less e-Golf Touch
Continuing with electric vehicles, Volkswagen also unveiled the e-Golf Touch. While the all-electric e-Golf itself isn’t all that new, what is new at this year’s CES is the infotainment system inside. While the 9.2-inch display on the e-Golf Touch has the usual controls, what makes the e-Golf Touch innovative is that you don’t need to touch the controls at all. The infotainment can be controlled using gestures. Just wave your hand to adjust volume or switch radio stations. Not only that, it also utilizes voice controls similar to Apple’s “Hey Siri” or Google’s “Ok Google.” The magic phrase for the e-Golf Touch? “Hello Volkswagen!”
The e-Golf Touch is also equipped with wireless charging in the front and rear seats, Type-C USB connection, and voice amplification. Voice amplification works by having microphones in around the vehicle and then amplifies the voices through the speakers. This allows for better conversations between people in the front and rear seats. With all that features, the e-Golf Touch is also compatible with Android Auto and CarPlay.
Unlike the BUDD-e Concept, the technology behind the e-Golf Touch (at least some of it) will actually come with latest Volkswagen vehicles as early as this year.
Image source: Engadget
