What's the news?
A team of 13 apprentices from Volkswagen and Sitech has developed the first Golf GTI that features electric propulsion - and it will be shown at the annual Wörthersee Volkswagen festival in Austria.
As we reported the other day, the team of young engineers was tasked with creating another show car for the massive get-together on the shores of a lake in Corinthia. And what they've come up with is the Volkswagen Golf GTI First Decade, which uses a 410hp petrol engine driving the front wheels while a 12kW (16hp) electric motor deals with the rear axle. The Golf can use either or both of these motors at the same time, depending on the performance need.
Outside, under the bonnet and within, the Golf GTI First Decade is finished in a variety of blues, to reflect the 'colours of the lake and sky' at Wörthersee, and the Volkswagen sits on mighty 20-inch alloys. There are no rear seats in the First Decade, either, the space they'd usually take up and the boot area instead dominated by a 1,690-watt, 11-speaker sound system with blue LED lighting.
Peter Christ, head of automotive technology training in Wolfsburg, said: "During the creation of their dream GTI, our apprentices learn about the complexity and future challenges of automobile production. They gain further experience in the use of digital technologies, the application of system technology and electro-mobility. This is why we choose our strongest talents and offer them the opportunity to learn from experienced instructors and experts from the entire company at an early stage."
It's called the First Decade, not because the Golf has only been going ten years (it's been around for more than 40 years, actually), but because this is the tenth year that apprentices have built show cars for Wörthersee.
Anything else?
Alongside the GTI First Decade at Wörthersee is the Golf GTE Estate impulsE (their typing, not ours), this one developed by 14 apprentices from the Zwickau vehicle plant, Chemnitz engine plant and the Transparent Factory in Dresden. This has a bigger battery, up from 8.8- to 16.8kWh, which doubles the car's range in electric operation.