VW Transporter T7 hybrid mule spied wearing T6 clothing

Good afternoon,

My wife has a Toyota Corolla Hybrid. It is a nice car. It is impressive how it changes from the petrol engine to electricity and back. I have no idea how they do it, but it is brilliant.

I feel that it works best in stop and go traffic - actually it is almost ideal for that. Naturally on longer distances the impact is not so great.

My issue with Toyota is that I fail to see the benefit of the system. The car (well, at least in the way my wife drives it) still uses 5 to 6 /100 km (sometimes even more). This is too much for a Hybrid. That was almost achievable with the Polo she had before (ok the Polo is smaller, so I am not compare like for like).

I have no experience with "mild Hybrid" cars (actually I have to Google what this actually means) or with plug-in Hybrids.

But how this will work with camper vans or motorhomes is a mystery to me. The California Ocean is about 2.4 t ready to drive, loaded (as we all know) can be up a wee bit over 3 t when fully loaded. Even if the engine, clutch, transmission, tank is gone, the battery is rather heavy (and where to put it?).

I can't wait to see what VW (and in fact the other van manufactures) will introduce in the years to come.

Regards,
Eberhard
Don't forget they could do away with the Leisure Batteries as well. Depends how the system is set up.
 
Don't forget they could do away with the Leisure Batteries as well. Depends how the system is set up.
Of course! There would simply be no need.

A smart move would be to offer factory fit solar panels too.

Every bloody leccy car ought to start having these as standard before long.
 
Not big enough. I think my roof has 27m2 of solar PVs and that can generate about 3.2kw/h at best.
 
Last edited:
Interesting.

I always wondered about these 'spy shots'.
So the photographer just happened to be standing at the side of the road in the snow in the middle of nowhere with their camera all set up when 2 prototype T7s just happened to drive by?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
I expect the winter testing is done at the same place, same time every year. These screen shots are of VW Audi test track, and the mountains where the off road vehicles are tested in Oman . There’s even a football pitch part way through the mountain route. (https://www.pressreader.com/oman/times-of-oman/20160221/281973196720735)
IMG_0520.PNGIMG_0522.PNGIMG_0523.PNGIMG_0525.jpgIt’s not always hot and dry !
 
Just spotted these T7 renderings:

That looks way too small to be a T7...just look at the rear quarter window, and the height of the tailgate and roof compared to the size of the wheels. Probably next generation Touran, in spite of the photo shopped Multivan tag.
 
It does look like VW have decided to shrink the T7 slightly. With the lower roofline and longer bonnet, the silhouette looks more like the Mercedes V class.

BC5D6292-83F8-495F-BEB9-458A3B81BFCF.jpeg
 
For what I've read this is not the T6.1 replacement and will not have any commercial/California derivative. For this you will have to wait for the VW-Ford platform sharing venture.
 
It looks like a Fiat Multipla that's retired, given up on life and taken up cribbage.
 
If I’m interpreting the following correctly (from VWCV’s Twitter feed), it seems that Ford will built the diesel powered ‘T7’ and any ‘electric T7’ would be based on a joint Ford/ VW modular electric drive platform.

So the T6.1 could be the last California model built solely by VW.
1596796992191.jpeg
 
If I’m interpreting the following correctly (from VWCV’s Twitter feed), it seems that Ford will built the diesel powered ‘T7’ and any ‘electric T7’ would be based on a joint Ford/ VW modular electric drive platform.

So the T6.1 could be the last California model built solely by VW.
View attachment 64068
It’s also been announced that Ford will build the Amarok for VW, based on Ford’s Ranger. i.e. the VW Amarok will just be rebadged/ slightly tweaked Ford Ranger. The above graphic suggests the same fate for the Transporter and Cali (except for a possible electric version).

 
Maybe VW just gave me a reason to keep my T5.1 forever?
I didn't like the Sharan, apart from it's versatility.
We'll see how it will work out.
 
Maybe VW just gave me a reason to keep my T5.1 forever?
I didn't like the Sharan, apart from it's versatility.
We'll see how it will work out.
From the pictures, this looks like a Sharan substitute, too small to be a T7.
 
If I’m interpreting the following correctly (from VWCV’s Twitter feed), it seems that Ford will built the diesel powered ‘T7’ and any ‘electric T7’ would be based on a joint Ford/ VW modular electric drive platform.

So the T6.1 could be the last California model built solely by VW.
View attachment 64068
That document says Ford and Volkswagen will each continue to produce their own commercial vans.
 
That document says Ford and Volkswagen will each continue to produce their own commercial vans.
Not quite - what it actually says that they will both VW and Ford will build some CVs each, but not build all of what they will sell under their brands, I.e. they will sell vehicles developed and built by the other.

For example, VW have announced that VW will produce the Caddy 5 and VW will also “develop and build a city delivery van, based on the #Caddy5” for Ford to sell in place of the Ford Transit Connect - see Twitter link above. This is represented in the graphic with the Caddy under VW in the ‘Build and Engineer’ row, but both Ford and VW selling vans Caddy based vans per the ‘Sell’ row.

The same graphic has the opposite pattern for the Transit - see Ford Transit in the ‘Build & Engineer’ row, but no Transporter in that row. This implies that the diesel Transporter will in future be Ford Transit based.
 
Interesting new look around the A and C pillars.


There isn’t a T7 section so stuck this here for now.
 
Shades of Xsara Picasso at the A pillar, and Renault Trafic at the C pillar...

Not instantly a fan.. but the rendering I just found helps a little:

58adc3a1ed4f4ff9.jpg



It will be interesting to see what the next 'Transporter' looks like... from what I was reading, the T7 platform will be exclusively for 'Window Vans' from VW - I'm guessing Caravelle, Multivan and California.

Everything else will be on the platform co-developed with Ford that will also be the new Transit.

I guess that will have some impact on the Camper Conversion companies currently using the Transporter as a base..... maybe they'll start building them like Westfalia always used to (and likely still do) by starting with a window van as a base.
 
Last edited:
Good afternoon,

I just came in from the garden after a tidy up from yesterdays storm, putting up my feed for a wee bit and looked at some web pages. In a German newspaper webpage there was an articel about the VW Transporter line with a new picture of the T7.

I attacched a screenshot (hoping not getting into trouble doing this. If you believe I will, let me know and I will delete the attachment and put in the URL to the newspaper's webpage.)

I will read the articel later and have another good look about the T7 to decide if my first impression is positive or negative. I wonder what other people think about it?

Happy California,
Eberhard

Screenshot_20201021-165759_cropped.png
 
Good afternoon,

I just came in from the garden after a tidy up from yesterdays storm, putting up my feed for a wee bit and looked at some web pages. In a German newspaper webpage there was an articel about the VW Transporter line with a new picture of the T7.

I attacched a screenshot (hoping not getting into trouble doing this. If you believe I will, let me know and I will delete the attachment and put in the URL to the newspaper's webpage.)

I will read the articel later and have another good look about the T7 to decide if my first impression is positive or negative. I wonder what other people think about it?

Happy California,
Eberhard

View attachment 68131

Delete the pic, or VW will disable all future software updates to your Cali. :D

Jokes apart, someone did post that pic on one of the thread. It looks more like a replacement for a VW Sharan more than the Cali. Look at the side profile, the wheels and also the doors.
 
Delete the pic, or VW will disable all future software updates to your Cali. :D

Jokes apart, someone did post that pic on one of the thread. It looks more like a replacement for a VW Sharan more than the Cali. Look at the side profile, the wheels and also the doors.
Looks far too big to be a Sharan to me.. The Windscreen looks wider than the T6 behind. It looks like they’ve lowered the roofline by about an inch and reduced the ground clearance by another inch and it makes it look a lot lower! More in line with the MP.
 
Back
Top