NAIAS 2014: Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Concept, 42 Mpg Highway

by Phillip Thomas

Updated: February 5th, 2014

naias 2014 volkswagen passat bluemotion concept 42 mpg highway

This is the future of VW’s gas motors. Turbo 1.4L four cylinders with cylinder deactivation (A first for a four-cylinder, at least for the US), start/stop, and a unique “coasting” mode for the Dual Clutch Transmission(DCT), which allows the Passat to fully disengage the clutch, and thereby allowing the car to coast with the least amount of mechanical drag possible. Current DCT’s will keep the motor engaged while coasting and engine brake.

Exterior details just include a special Reef Blue Metallic color, and the interior gets special two-tone seats for the concept. Otherwise, it’s what you expect from the current Passat. Why this over a TDi package? In some parts of the country, diesel is not as accessible or anywhere near as cheap as gasoline. And simply enough, there are those who simply don’t want a diesel. The image of the slow, clackity diesel engines of yore still sit in Americans’ memories. The Passat BlueMotion intends to close this fuel efficiency gap, and offer buyers a more conventional package.

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Johnny ringo on Jan 14, 2014

A lot of new technology here, given all the comments on TTAC about Volkswagen's reliability (or the lack thereof) it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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Tedward on Jan 14, 2014

Besides for 4-cylinder cylinder deactivation this isn't new tech for VW in the US. What we have here is basically a Jetta Hybrid drivetrain (which is fun to geek out on, active temp management on intake and exhaust manifolds) minus the electric motors. Correct me if I'm wrong but the 1.4T is also a volume Golf motor in Europe. It's probably aimed directly at CAFE requirements here in the US. It seems to me that declutching the engine while coasting only saves fuel if the engine is also off on the start/stop cycle. Otherwise you would be replacing engine braking time with idling time, which is less fuel efficient. That's what the Jetta Hybrid does, but that car has alternative propulsion so I'm not sure if that would be the case with this Passat. Either way, if it's the DSG from the Jetta then going into manual mode seems to keep the engine hooked up for deceleration.

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