Volkswagen is contemplating a pickup truck for the U.S. market that might probably be a plug-in hybrid, the model’s North American boss mentioned Tuesday in an interview with Motor Authority.
President and CEO of VW Group of America Pablo di Si mentioned the potential pickup might have a hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrain, however that it could undoubtedly be one or the opposite.
“It isn’t strategically clever to enter a number of instructions for hybrids,” Di Si mentioned. That seemingly contrasts the methods of different automakers like Toyota and Hyundai/Kia, which at the moment promote a number of fashions with each hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrain choices.
Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak idea
VW’s U.S.-market pickup would reportedly leverage present platforms within the automaker’s portfolio, and would probably have unibody development, probably utilizing the bones of the VW Atlas crossover SUV.
The Atlas served as the idea for the VW Tanoak pickup idea proven on the 2018 New York Auto Present. On the time, VW executives mentioned the Tanoak was merely to gauge client , and was not supposed for manufacturing.
If the pickup is assembled alongside the Atlas at VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, manufacturing unit (which additionally builds the ID.4 EV), it might additionally come half method to assembly necessities for the federal EV tax credit score underneath the Inflation Discount Act (IRA). The brand new guidelines specify native meeting and sourcing of battery minerals for qualifying autos.
Timing is unclear. The Atlas was launched for the 2018 model 12 months, was refreshed for 2021, and is due for one more replace for 2024. A redesign could possibly be years away.
2022 Volkswagen Amarok
A plug-in hybrid pickup could be a return to type of types. Again in 2015, previous to VW’s choice to double down on its MEB platform and give attention to EVs slightly than hybrids, VW was one of many solely automakers aiming to place fast-charging in its plug-in hybrids.
VW has been contemplating a U.S.-market pickup for a while, and electrification has usually been a part of the dialogue. The automaker at the moment sells small pickups in a number of markets, however in 2020 then-COO Johan de Nysschen mentioned any such truck for the U.S. must be all-electric. Later that 12 months, VW Group of America then-CEO Scott Keogh mentioned that an electrical pickup could be “the prospect of a lifetime” for VW and was being significantly thought of.
In 2022, VW Group of America’s dad or mum firm as a substitute determined to activate Scout as an electrical truck model—to the whole shock of U.S. sellers, who will apparently now nonetheless be with out the totally electrical pickup they virtually had.
