World premiere of the all new Volkswagen California

[WelshGas]

Can you summarise it??

No, because I’d be accused of putting my own spin on it.

 

[wildslammer22]

Can you summarise it??

It basically confirms what I said, that most TFL senior managers are paid less when benchmarked against the private sector.

Some fun facts.

London has the first underground metro in the world.

It has the largest integrated multi-modal ticketing system of any City in Oyster.

London has bucked the global trend by Public Transport usage being higher than private transport and its continuing to grow. It has also grown active transport (walking and cycling) by 20% since 2019

80% of the UK’s rail journeys either start or terminate in the Capital.

Unlike the rest of the UK, London didn’t privatise its bus services in the 1980’s. As a result patronage, fares, timetabling and accessibility out performs the rest of the UK significantly. Manchester and Liverpool are trying to replicate the TFL model. Until recently Manchester alone had 24 different private bus operators all with their own schedules and fares.

London was a pioneer in the use of electric and hybrid buses and will soon have the world’s first fleet of double decker buses powered by hydrogen.

We should definitely fire all those overpaid TFL executives and managers that have been sponging off of us tax payers for far too long and delivering nothing…

Anyway back to the subject in hand. ABAB has done a video on the new Cali with some interesting tidbits.

 

[Corradobrit]

Anyway back to the subject in hand. ABAB has done a video on the new Cali with some interesting tidbits.

Can you summarize it?

 

[wildslammer22]

Can you summarize it?

Of course, do you have an hour?!

40aH lithium batteries

No drop down locker on the Coast

Luggage volume is claimed to be 11 (or 13?) lites bigger than the t6.1

VW senior bod (most certainly overpaid and bonused) claiming that the natural evolution for the Cali is for it to be better to drive and be more refined. This was used as the reason for no T7 van based version planned. How they square this claim with the Caddy and Crafter versions I’ve no idea!

California Universe still seems conceptual and my take is it’s just a vehicle (pun intended) to mop up much of the third party accessory market. They have already stolen the Van Essa window storage concept and ‘borrowed’ the windscreen blind design from Project Camper.

Still no California’s available in California…

 

[Corradobrit]

Of course, do you have an hour?!

40aH lithium batteries

No drop down locker on the Coast

Luggage volume is claimed to be 11 (or 13?) lites bigger than the t6.1

VW senior bod (most certainly overpaid and bonused) claiming that the natural evolution for the Cali is for it to be better to drive and be more refined. This was used as the reason for no T7 van based version planned. How they square this claim with the Caddy and Crafter versions I’ve no idea!

California Universe still seems conceptual and my take is it’s just a vehicle (pun intended) to mop up much of the third party accessory market. They have already stolen the Van Essa window storage concept and ‘borrowed’ the windscreen blind design from Project Camper.

Still no California’s available in California…

Wonderful synopsis. Thats 32:41 I have back.

 

[Camperfamily]

Interview with VW Head of Design - in the ABAB video - was interesting. To me, he seemed quite agitated in responding to the question about whether we’ll see a T7-based California (see around 14 minutes 30)

 

[wildslammer22]

Interview with VW Head of Design - in the ABAB video - was interesting. To me, he seemed quite agitated in responding to the question about whether we’ll see a T7-based California (see around 14 minutes 30)

Not exactly convincing was he! He sounded like a politician having to regurgitate the party line.

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

Of course, do you have an hour?!

40aH lithium batteries

No drop down locker on the Coast

Luggage volume is claimed to be 11 (or 13?) lites bigger than the t6.1

VW senior bod (most certainly overpaid and bonused) claiming that the natural evolution for the Cali is for it to be better to drive and be more refined. This was used as the reason for no T7 van based version planned. How they square this claim with the Caddy and Crafter versions I’ve no idea!

California Universe still seems conceptual and my take is it’s just a vehicle (pun intended) to mop up much of the third party accessory market. They have already stolen the Van Essa window storage concept and ‘borrowed’ the windscreen blind design from Project Camper.

Still no California’s available in California…

My old F Tye Jag was better to drive but it was a rubbish camper. As long as the new camper is as good in all other respects then better to drive is a valid plus. Otherwise. Not.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Interview with VW Head of Design - in the ABAB video - was interesting. To me, he seemed quite agitated in responding to the question about whether we’ll see a T7-based California (see around 14 minutes 30)

They can't afford to make it on their own, hence the people carrier effort - “T7 multivan.”

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Interview with VW Head of Design - in the ABAB video - was interesting. To me, he seemed quite agitated in responding to the question about whether we’ll see a T7-based California (see around 14 minutes 30)

Interesting video, not sure if it was just his English or whether he was really agitated.

I've seen a few of their videos, is it just me or is it like the QVC channel for campers? from what I've seen they seem to fawn over everything they're given (paid?) to review?

 

[WelshGas]

They can't afford to make it on their own, hence the people carrier effort - “T7 multivan.”

I presume the Multivan is made in Hanover where the California is assembled but the New Ford/VW Transport is made in Turkey I gather.

 

[Kayleigh]

It basically confirms what I said, that most TFL senior managers are paid less when benchmarked against the private sector.

Some fun facts.

London has the first underground metro in the world.

It has the largest integrated multi-modal ticketing system of any City in Oyster.

London has bucked the global trend by Public Transport usage being higher than private transport and its continuing to grow. It has also grown active transport (walking and cycling) by 20% since 2019

80% of the UK’s rail journeys either start or terminate in the Capital.

Unlike the rest of the UK, London didn’t privatise its bus services in the 1980’s. As a result patronage, fares, timetabling and accessibility out performs the rest of the UK significantly. Manchester and Liverpool are trying to replicate the TFL model. Until recently Manchester alone had 24 different private bus operators all with their own schedules and fares.

London was a pioneer in the use of electric and hybrid buses and will soon have the world’s first fleet of double decker buses powered by hydrogen.

We should definitely fire all those overpaid TFL executives and managers that have been sponging off of us tax payers for far too long and delivering nothing…

Anyway back to the subject in hand. ABAB has done a video on the new Cali with some interesting tidbits.

Very interesting, thank you!

 

[Kayleigh]

Interesting video, not sure if it was just his English or whether he was really agitated.

I've seen a few of their videos, is it just me or is it like the QVC channel for campers? from what I've seen they seem to fawn over everything they're given (paid?) to review?

Yes, I wouldn’t really class this as a review! Say anything bad and you don’t get a future invite to events I guess.

 

[wildslammer22]

Yes, I wouldn’t really class this as a review! Say anything bad and you don’t get a future invite to events I guess.

You can tell more from what ABAB don’t say vs what they do! I suspect he was pretty underwhelmed, and with two young kids and a big dog it isn’t going to tempt him back into the fold.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Yes, I wouldn’t really class this as a review! Say anything bad and you don’t get a future invite to events I guess.

On the other hand, lose your integrity amongst watchers who unsubscribe from the channel who want genuinely objective reviews and content........

 

[pluc99]

Interesting video, not sure if it was just his English or whether he was really agitated.

I've seen a few of their videos, is it just me or is it like the QVC channel for campers? from what I've seen they seem to fawn over everything they're given (paid?) to review?

He didn't seem particularly agitated to me, just a regular German speaking in English (which I'm very used to as I'm living in Switzerland). My take was that it doesn't make sense for VW to add another California version via the Transporter platform. He seemed convinced and convincing to me.

What was interesting to me was his statement that the Ocean would only be offered as a 4 seater but that you could buy a 5th seat and just plop it into the rail. In fact that was his own plan to be able to accommodate all 4 of his daughters.

My main beef with my T6.1 Ocean is the 4 seat limit. I'm starting to warm up to the idea of trading it in for a 5 or 6 seater Ocean. I'll be holding off until I get a better feel for how the PHEV/4Motion will work but the extra seating in an Ocean is a game changer.

 

[Kayleigh]

On the other hand, lose your integrity amongst watchers who unsubscribe from the channel who want genuinely objective reviews and content........

I normally unsubscribe from channels that have some kind of sponsorship or advert within their content. I dropped the one in question quite a long time ago!

 

[wildslammer22]

He didn't seem particularly agitated to me, just a regular German speaking in English (which I'm very used to as I'm living in Switzerland). My take was that it doesn't make sense for VW to add another California version via the Transporter platform. He seemed convinced and convincing to me.

What was interesting to me was his statement that the Ocean would only be offered as a 4 seater but that you could buy a 5th seat and just plop it into the rail. In fact that was his own plan to be able to accommodate all 4 of his daughters.

My main beef with my T6.1 Ocean is the 4 seat limit. I'm starting to warm up to the idea of trading it in for a 5 or 6 seater Ocean. I'll be holding off until I get a better feel for how the PHEV/4Motion will work but the extra seating in an Ocean is a game changer.

That was all lost on me, I assumed he meant one of the Beach versions. If you have 4 children the Ocean makes no sense at all to me. Unless the plan is to tow a caravan it wouldn’t work as a camper with a large family in which case why not just get the true 6 seater Beach version?


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[Barry Chuckle]

I normally unsubscribe from channels that have some kind of sponsorship or advert within their content. I dropped the one in question quite a long time ago!

I make a point of watching anything on said channel with an ad blocker as a matter of principle

 

[Kayleigh]

That was all lost on me, I assumed he meant one of the Beach versions. If you have 4 children the Ocean makes no sense at all to me. Unless the plan is to tow a caravan it wouldn’t work as a camper with a large family in which case why not just get the true 6 seater Beach version?


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Yes it was a bit confusing, but I did think he was talking about adding an extra seat into the Ocean. Would be good if you could, as with the T6 they are really heavy and a PITA to take in and out.

 

[WelshGas]

That was all lost on me, I assumed he meant one of the Beach versions. If you have 4 children the Ocean makes no sense at all to me. Unless the plan is to tow a caravan it wouldn’t work as a camper with a large family in which case why not just get the true 6 seater Beach version?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe he is a single parent/ divorced or a widower and wants a full Campervan but also wants to be able to take out his 4 daughters on occasion. Not necessarily camping with all 4.

 

[wildslammer22]

Maybe he is a single parent/ divorced or a widower and wants a full Campervan but also wants to be able to take out his 4 daughters on occasion. Not necessarily camping with all 4.

As he’s a senior VW staffer he will probably have access to a Beach and an Ocean so he can mix and match! Presumably the chairs in the Beach will fit in the Ocean? Although I think he said they will sell the seats seperately


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[Winston Rumfoord]

He should consider buying a used T6.1 Beach Camper.

 

[Kayleigh]

You can tell more from what ABAB don’t say vs what they do! I suspect he was pretty underwhelmed, and with two young kids and a big dog it isn’t going to tempt him back into the fold.

I liked the bit where he looked at the Beach and laughed because someone had forgotten to fold the middle seat before putting the bed down.
And yes, it really is laughable!!!

 

[Kayleigh]

He should consider buying a used T6.1 Beach Camper.

Or even a T6!!!