FIRSTDRIVE VOLKSWAGEN BLUEMOTION MODELS:SELLING THE virtues of clean, green technology is not easy at the best of times. Conjure up frugal, economical driving and people might just doze off. Economical motoring is the beige corduroy of the car world. So marketing minds come up with exotic names to make us feel as if we should be excited about frugality, such as Efficient Dynamics, Bluetec and BlueMotion.
The latter is Volkswagen's labelling system for its eco cars. The full BlueMotion models don't just use clean engines but are now adding measures to curb emissions and fuel consumption. Volkswagen will begin sales of dedicated BlueMotion models of the Polo, Golf and Passat in the coming months and we travelled to Hanover to put their green credentials to the test.
These are all Band A vehicles, but by some degree. The Polo BlueMotion has emission figures of 87g/km meaning it will have the lowest CO2 emissions of any mainstream car in Ireland, lower than the new Toyota Prius. The Golf BlueMotion uses an ultra frugal 1.6-litre diesel, and has CO2 emissions of 99g/km. Finally, the Passat BlueMotion uses the same engine as the Golf and manages to keep emissions down to 114g/km. All very impressive, but sadly of no major benefit in Ireland, where anything less than 120g/km gets the lowest tax and VRT band and some existing diesel models of the Polo, Golf and Passat can already manage this.
Volkswagen has added technology that not only keeps the emissions low but creates the potential for amazing fuel economy figures. Stop/start technology, which turns the car off when put into neutral while stopped in traffic, is one and this works a bit like that used so successfully by BMW. When the car is stopped, dip the clutch and go into neutral and the engine shuts off. Press the clutch again and it starts. A gearshift indicator gives the optimum shifting times, to save fuel, and regenerative braking helps to recover energy. During deceleration and braking the alternator's charging voltage is elevated, which converts the car's kinetic energy into electrical energy to charge the battery. Aerodynamic changes include a closed upper radiator grille and alloy wheels that are tuned in a wind tunnel as well as low rolling resistance tyres. The cars even get special body kits to make them less resistant to wind.
The Polo's three-cylinder diesel is a little vocal but the gearing makes it pretty easy to drive frugally. There is plenty of available torque and it isn't that difficult to make it reach fuel economy figures that are close to the claimed average of 3.3l/100km, but when we say close, we mean 3.9l/100km to 4.1l/100km - and that was driving like a blind nun in a Toyota Starlet.
The Golf was similar. We found it nigh impossible to match the Golf's claimed 3.8l/100km, with 4.5l/100km seeming way more realistic. So even when trying to drive frugally and without resorting to being dangerous we weren't able to match the claimed figures. So we changed tactic to see how the Golf, in particular, would fare when driven normally. Even with the foot to the floor on the autobahn it wasn't straying over 5.8l/100km (48mpg in old money) and we can conclude that you will get at least that from the BlueMotion Golf which is pretty impressive in its own right. Driven more frugally, which to be honest is as infuriating as it is dull, and you are unlikely to notice a massive difference from what you would manage in a standard 1.6-litre TDi Golf. The Passat felt, well, like a Passat and there wasn't much new to it from the previous BlueMotion technology version. Its claimed fuel economy of 4.4 l/100km and range of 1,591km might be reachable if you don't mind holding up traffic but again, the reality is likely to be different.
So here's the thing; VW appears to be asking buyers, in a recession, to pay a premium for a car that might manage impressive fuel economy if you drove it in certain way. It already has a Polo, Golf and Passat that qualify for the lowest tax band, Band A, and which offer fuel economy figures close enough to those of the BlueMotion.
In the case of Polo, you will be asked to pay around €700 more for the BlueMotion version compared to the 1.6-litre TDi five-door Comfortline. But BlueMotion, in its defence, gains some equipment as standard that will cost you about €1,400 more on the Comfortline, such as alloys, cruise control, front fogs, centre armrest, metallic paint and a leather trimmed steering wheel meaning the BlueMotion is better value, to the tune of around €800.
There might not be any real major draw to buy the Golf BlueMotion. We'd expect the BlueMotion Golf to be on par in terms of price with a Comfortline 1.6-litre TDi Golf, so that might come down to a straight choice between A or B, rather than any major advance.
Again, there is the BlueMotion's superior fuel economy, but again there is no tax advantage to having the BlueMotion. It will make a statement of the owner's green credentials if nothing else. There might be no major advantage to owning a Passat BlueMotion in Ireland either. Sure, the potential fuel economy is there, but this might not be enough to persuade buyers into a €27,000 Passat when they could be into a different model for thousands less.
BlueMotion works well in so far as the technology works, but in most cases buyers are being asked to pay more for it than other derivatives and for this reason, in Ireland at least, it probably won't work. If we had an incentive to buy cars under 100g/km of CO2 the Polo and Golf BlueMotion might sell well.
In Belgium, cars that emit less than 105g/km of CO2 get a 15 per cent tax refund and there are also incentives in Sweden, France, Germany and in the UK for cars with CO2 of less than 100g/km, but in Ireland it falls under the same umbrella as those with less than 120g/km and the Government, which is already down €791 million on this year's VRT take, is unlikely to offer to give away more of this.
So with these VW cars it would be a case of choosing 'blue' to be 'green' but ending up in the 'red'.
