World premiere of the all new Volkswagen California

[pjm-84]

Not enough for me so I'm out.....but I have already thought about adding the second awning.

 

[WelshGas]

Welshgas
Yes it's a plug in Hybrid
All plug in Hybrids also have a small ice engine to charge the battery.
It is only Full EV,s that 100% run off battery's

And how much charge is put back into the battery after a 200m drive. Sufficient to drive on electric only?

 

[wildslammer22]

AGM batteries are fit and forget compared with LiPO4 when used in the temperature ranges in which the California is used.

LiFePO4 Battery Operating Temperature Range: Safety, Precautions, and Common Mistakes

Temperature plays a vital role in the performance and lifespan of LiFePO4 batteries. This comprehensive guide will delve into the optimal operating

ecotreelithium.co.uk

Some manufacturers are offering LiFeP04 that can charge at -30° without heating. It carries a c.25% premium. I would have thought this could be an option in the same way that there is used to be a high altitude diesel heater option?


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[hirsty]

Welshgas
Yes it's a plug in Hybrid
All plug in Hybrids also have a small ice engine to charge the battery.
It is only Full EV,s that 100% run off battery's

My assumption, though I don't know & aren't all that bothered either way, was that once a PHEV battery is flat that's it & it needs to be mains charged again, other than nominal re-gen from braking etc whilst on the move?

Was sure I'd seen that on a Defender review - X number of miles & then done til back on the mains.

 

[P600BOO]

And how much charge is put back into the battery after a 200m drive. Sufficient to drive on electric only?

No, on battery only is probably only about 20 to 30 miles. Plug in Hybrid works on the basis of the IC engine cutting in and out to help drive the vehicle and charge the batteries. On a plug-in Hybrid you probably get 100 to 120 miles per gallon.

 

[P600BOO]

My assumption, though I don't know & aren't all that bothered either way, was that once a PHEV battery is flat that's it & it needs to be mains charged again, other than nominal re-gen from braking etc whilst on the move?

Was sure I'd seen that on a Defender review - X number of miles & then done til back on the mains.

A full electric car needs to be re charged by plugging into a charging point.
A PHEV is part driven by the batteries and part driven by the ic engine. The engine also charge the batteries whilst you are travelling.
Yes when you get home the batteries could be at say 20% and you then top them back up to 100% by plugging in to your home electric point.
Hybrid have about 15kw of battery
PHEV about 30 kw of batteries
Full Electriv BEV 50 to over 100kw depending on the size of vehicle.
I owned VW Buzz and it was 80kw full electric.

 

[P600BOO]

My assumption, though I don't know & aren't all that bothered either way, was that once a PHEV battery is flat that's it & it needs to be mains charged again, other than nominal re-gen from braking etc whilst on the move?

Was sure I'd seen that on a Defender review - X number of miles & then done til back on the mains.

Plug-in hybrid
Vehicle containing an internal combustion engine and one or more electric engines whose battery can be recharged from an external electric power source
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be replenished by connecting a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engine-powered generator.

 

[WelshGas]

A full electric car needs to be re charged by plugging into a charging point.
A PHEV is part driven by the batteries and part driven by the ic engine. The engine also charge the batteries whilst you are travelling.
Yes when you get home the batteries could be at say 20% and you then top them back up to 100% by plugging in to your home electric point.
Hybrid have about 15kw of battery
PHEV about 30 kw of batteries
Full Electriv BEV 50 to over 100kw depending on the size of vehicle.
I owned VW Buzz and it was 80kw full electric.

So after 30 miles or so you’ll be carrying around a virtually empty battery + electric motor powered by a small IC engine.
Fine if you do lots of sub- 30 mile return trips not so good on long distance trips.

 

[pjm-84]

Not sure VW have thought it through. A MHEV would be a better option.

 

[wildslammer22]

I’m pretty sure one of the youtube previews mentioned lithium batteries, indeed one or two 40 Ah. The promobil preview confirms the lithium battery, if not the capacities: https://www.promobil.de/neuheiten/vw-t7-idbuzz-multivan-california/

That makes sense as a 40Ah LiFeP04 offers similar real world capacity as the standard AGM battery fitted in current Cali’s. What doesn’t make much sense is offering two 40Ah batteries vs a single 100Ah


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[P600BOO]

So after 30 miles or so you’ll be carrying around a virtually empty battery + electric motor powered by a small IC engine.
Fine if you do lots of sub- 30 mile return trips not so good on long distance trips.

No it does not work that way, your ic engine is charging the battery as you drive. Also when you brake the power from the brakes recharges your battery ( Regen)
On a long trip a PHEV will get approx 120 miles per gallon if not more.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

No it does not work that way, your ic engine is charging the battery as you drive. Also when you brake the power from the brakes recharges your battery ( Regen)
On a long trip a PHEV will get approx 120 miles per gallon if not more.

Would say more like 60mpg in a small hatchback, less in a big heavy van.

The inlaws had a self charging rav4 for 3 years, now switched to a fully electric jeep avenger and overcame their ‘range anxiety’ fears on the first long drive.

Only a full electric van would interest me in buying new / leasing. Otherwise will stick with a well aged diesel.

 

[P600BOO]

Would say more like 60mpg in a small hatchback, less in a big heavy van.

The inlaws had a self charging rav4 for 3 years, now switched to a fully electric jeep avenger and overcame their ‘range anxiety’ fears on the first long drive.

Only a full electric van would interest me in buying new / leasing. Otherwise will stick with a well aged diesel.

60mpg + in a Hybrid
120ish + in a Plug in Hybrid
All depends on the vehicle, weight and how it is driven.
My EV Buzz was lucky to get 170 miles on a full charge in cold weather but 220+ in warmer weather

 

[Wingman09]

As a current '23 beach tour owner, I think the obvious positives of the T7 beach are the much more modern and car like feel up front, I think the drivetrain options are probably better as well.

I think using it for camping it is much of a muchness, the beds are slightly smaller in the t7 but not prohibitively so and still could sleep 4 adults if you so wished.

Drawbacks, maximum of 6 seats, I've had 7 in mine on quite a few occasions. The towing capacity is I think 0.5t lower in the t7 which is useless for when I tow my racecar. Then the cooker and draws in the back assumimg that they can't be removed just limit the versatility of the t7.

I think that the ease of removing seats is good vs the bench in the t6, but it is rendered a little useless as you still have boot space taken up.

It looks like a people carrier, which I don't think it will grow on me so it doesn't have any draw from that perspective.

I can see how it will work for some with no issues, but it seems like with the beach they have removed some of the versatility. If thise aspects of the versatility lost aren't important to someone then there are positives for the t7.

You have to remove the centre seat from its rails, turn it around and refit it in order to make up the lower bed in the multilane beach! There's a German video on line showing this being done.

 

[California Dreamer]

Double sliding doors, so what, don’t get the big point here I’m afraid.
No handbrake seems to be the only ‘positive ‘ I can see.

Totally agree! I’m not a natural naysayer and usually enjoy seeing changes and new stuff but I’m struggling to see any advantages over my 6.1 especially when the electric range is so limited. It seems to assume there’s always great weather (there isn’t) and adults always sleep upstairs (we don’t). Of course it will suit some people but for us it’s not a patch on our current van and I’m not at all tempted!


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[hirsty]

So after 30 miles or so you’ll be carrying around a virtually empty battery + electric motor powered by a small IC engine.
Fine if you do lots of sub- 30 mile return trips not so good on long distance trips.

that was Jonny Smiths conclusion on the standard PHEV Multivan:

 

[This_one_goes_to_eleven]

60mpg + in a Hybrid
120ish + in a Plug in Hybrid
All depends on the vehicle, weight and how it is driven.
My EV Buzz was lucky to get 170 miles on a full charge in cold weather but 220+ in warmer weather

These are not real numbers at all for PHEV in my experience. . We ran a BMW 2 series PHEV charged every night , used mainly on 20 mile Round trips , a few times a week for longer.

65-70 mpg for what is a small hatchback. A normal non plug in Hybrid would do equally as well (without having the boost in performance whcih PHEV typically brings)

You are carrying a lot of battery/motor weight around in addition to the engine even with the small 7kWh odd battery that it had in it.

It only averaged 2 miles per kWh on EV mode. For comparison my model 3 got 5miles per kWh.

 

[SusiBus]

I'm so relieved, because having taken a long shot, sold our 6.1, and just managed to get one of the last build slots for a 4Motion The "All New California " will just not work for us, I was worried that " It's last chance to order a new 4Mo" had seduced me, but I'm now more than sure it was a good decision. The new own is on the boat as we speak.

 

[Camperfamily]

It seems to me that a number of the compromises result from the sale / sharing of the commercials business to/ with Ford, so VW were left with the (MQB-based) Multivan for their in-house California.

The economics of that commercials deal would, I expect, have dwarfed the California segment economics.

 

[flying banana]

Am I right in thinking the slide out kitchen from the concept with the bbq chopping board and lamp has been ditched then? So your get 1 hob ?

 

[greenfintry]

Seen the posts on LinkedIn... I am not impressed.

Like I mentioned in another post, just like the Grand California turned out to be nothing like the XXL California Concept... This followed same principle.

At this point, revised Marco Polo looks very good.

As someone who works in the automotive industry, I will never buy a PHEV simply because you have the most complex vehicles possible in terms of integration. If you intend to keep the vehicle for a long time, good luck because Germans can't do a PHEV to save their lives. It's either ICE or full BEV or a Prius.

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I suspect the German building of PHEVs is better than the UK ability to build charging infrastructure….

 

[hirsty]

It seems to me that a number of the compromises result from the sale / sharing of the commercials business to/ with Ford, so VW were left with the (MQB-based) Multivan for their in-house California.

The economics of that commercials deal would, I expect, have dwarfed the California segment economics.

completely agree - I’ve always found this forum to take things (perhaps understandably) a little personally, but “it’s just business” & very often the story is created to support / suit / justify the new numbers.

 

[Pollewop]

It seems to me that a number of the compromises result from the sale / sharing of the commercials business to/ with Ford, so VW were left with the (MQB-based) Multivan for their in-house California.

The economics of that commercials deal would, I expect, have dwarfed the California segment economics.

Yes, I guess that VW wants to keep the California concept exclusively for VW build platforms ( To build their “California Universe” ) , and not share it on the new Ford/VW Transit-Transporter platform. I do expect however, that as soon as the Transit-Transporter is available many Camper converters will use it to make their own version “Californias”. These may suite many people better that this “New California”.

 

[LinseyTaylor1]

Compromises everywhere. Bed even narrower than now. Absolutely no storage for kitchen equipment. No wardrobe. One gas burner. Just so you can have two doors that open. wee wee poor as a camper.

 

[scottk]

Am I right in thinking the slide out kitchen from the concept with the bbq chopping board and lamp has been ditched then? So your get 1 hob ?

Correct. No induction either. Missed opportunity.