VW Golf: Plug-in hybrids with improved range

For the 50th anniversary of the VW Golf, the Wolfsburg-based company is launching a revised, production-near version of its classic on the market. The new plug-in hybrid drives in the Golf offer more power and roughly 100 km of electric range, and are additionally equipped with a DC fast charging function. The 48-V mild hybrid drives, on the other hand, are interesting for drivers without a home wallbox. A total of nine different variants – mild hybrid (eTSI), plug-in hybrid (eHybrid and GTE), turbo gasoline (TSI), and turbo diesel drives (TDI) – will be available for the series at the start. The Golf GTI has become even sportier, with its performance increased compared to its predecessor. Further derivatives of the Golf will gradually follow in 2024.

New Infotainment World and Chat-GPT Integration

In the interior, the revised model series features a newly developed and intuitively operated infotainment system with an optically free-standing touchscreen (screen diagonal up to 32.8 cm), to which ergonomically improved and illuminated touch sliders for temperature and volume control are connected below.

Also new is the further developed multifunction steering wheel and the new voice assistant IDA. With IDA, not only can functions such as air conditioning, phone, or navigation be controlled via natural speech, but facts on many topics can also be retrieved online—from weather forecasts to knowledge queries. Additionally, in the future Golf, the latest generation of infotainment integrates the AI-based chatbot ChatGPT into the voice assistant IDA. The function, introduced at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in early January, can access the constantly growing database of artificial intelligence. Occupants can interact with the car in natural speech and have researched content read aloud to them during the drive.

Easy Parking Thanks to New Assistance Systems

Maneuvering the Golf and Golf Variant is made easier by new assistance systems like the advanced "Park Assist Plus". This system can recognize while driving past whether a parking space (parallel or perpendicular) is large enough and then initiates the parking process accordingly. During this, it takes over steering, acceleration, and braking. The driver only needs to monitor the parking process. Additionally, the "Park Assist Pro" offered for the first time in the Golf enables parking and unparking via smartphone. The vehicle can be remotely controlled to unpark, for example, when the parking space is very tight. Also new is the "Area View" system – here, a 360° all-around view is created through the interaction of four cameras, and the corresponding image is transmitted to the touchscreen of the infotainment system. Curbs and parking markings are thus easily recognizable.