The Fleet Study in Electric Mobility is aimed at analysing driver behaviour, looking at when EVs are charged and where the electricity itself comes from, including managing spikes in demand and possibly using the vehicles as a buffer during peak periods. Started in July 2008, it completes in 2012.

Volkswagen supplied 20 Golf Variant twïnDRIVE models as part of the study – a plug-in hybrid that can travel up to 35 miles on pure electric power. A small, efficient internal combustion engine then kicks in to provide a total range of 560 miles.

It’s a hint of things to come for the Volkswagen Group, having only recently announced a range of plug-in hybrid cars in 2013 and 2014. The Group believes this setup offers customers the best compromise of unlimited range and electric mobility.

Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the management board of Volkswagen AG, commented: ‘Over the mid-term, the plug-in hybrid offers great potential here, because it unites the best of 2 worlds in one vehicle.’