The fifth generation Jetta debuted at the 2005 Los Angeles Auto Show in January. A DSG transmission, stability control, and electro-mechanical steering are also new innovations. In North America, the A5 Jetta went on sale in March 2005, as a 2005 1/2 model, overlapping the final model year of the A4 Jetta. A GLI version was released as a 2006 model in North America in the late summer of 2005. The new Jetta was designed by Walter de'Silva. 2005 sales of the New Jetta were disappointing in the US, with the exception of the TDI diesel version, where rapidly rising fuel prices have resulted in heavy demand for vehicles equipped with this engine. While critics embraced the overall vehicle, many thought that it was too high-priced for the highly competitive compact car market. In 2006, Car and Driver named the new GLI an Everyday Hero for an enthusiast who wants sports car handling without losing too much practicality. Volkswagen announced the Jetta in Europe in late May 2005. The model range returns to using the Jetta name on the continent, rather than Bora or Vento. In other parts of the world, this model does retain both names, usually in cases where a previous generation is still sold. For example, in Mexico, the A4 is still sold as the Jetta, while the A5 is the Bora. In China, the A2 is still sold as the Jetta, while the A5 is sold as the Sagitar together with the A4 Bora.
It reached maximum putridity when we were wheel-to-wheel, then fortunately faded away as I slowly pulled ahead. All this while my windows were rolled up, fan on its lowest setting. Funny thing was that the guy in the LeSabre wasn’t even smoking, as far as I could tell. Apparently the car just stunk of it. On another recent commute I’ve smelled an alluring perfume while moseying past an older but very well-maintained 325 convertible, driven by an equally well-maintained woman in her thirties. I’ve also picked up the distinct smell of gear oil, 75w90 by my calculation, as I approached and passed an early-1990s Silverado. Perhaps he just changed his diff oil and didn’t do a good job of cleaning up. And get this - on the way home yesterday, going north on the 405 toward Sunset Boulevard, somebody somewhere was smoking a joint. Which was uncanny, since there wasn’t a single VW Microbus in sight.
I switched lanes and saw a new white Prius hybrid with the sunroof and rear window cracked open. Looked suspicious, so I pulled up next to it, and sure enough, the dude was toking away. I’ve also picked up new scents while at speed that I’ve never noticed before. Let’s pretend for a moment that such nonsense is, in fact, nonsense. But how else can we explain why one might be able to pick up more scents in an EV than in an ICE vehicle? Bored to tears during one unusually long commute to work, I decided to play devil’s advocate, and came up with one word: heat. Tons of it. How much? By my calculation, an ICE produces over three times the amount of heat per hour than a gas furnace sized for a 3000 square foot house. After a quick search of the internet and crunching some numbers, it looks like a 200hp internal combustion engine wastes about 400,000 BTU of heat per hour, dissipated mostly through the cooling system and exhaust. This heat escapes around the car, which probably prevents the surrounding cooler air from entering the car’s ventilation system without somehow being affected, perhaps diluted, by the hot air. In comparison, an EV motor produces such a small amount of heat that it doesn’t even need much of a cooling system, so ambient air can enter the EV’s ventilation system, scents and all, undiluted. Unfortunately this explanation seems slightly more plausible than my superhuman power theory, which means that in all likelihood I’m still just a normal guy. Damn. Sometimes reality stinks.
While it started getting popular in some European markets, VW e-Golf still hasn’t launched with official pricing in the US. Today, VW finally revealed pricing for the all-electric vehicle today and it’s only a slight price hike. The 2017 e-Golf received a significant range increase with an EPA rating of 125 miles thanks to a new 35.8 kWh battery pack. 1,500 in the US. 30,495) trim now offers more standard equipment, including an 8-inch glass-covered touchscreen display, LED taillights, cruise control, a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel, and the 7.2 kW on-board charger. 1,395), including the 12.3-inch Volkswagen Digital Cockpit instrument cluster, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Forward Collision Warning with Autonomous Emergency Braking and Pedestrian Monitoring (Front Assist), Lane Assist, Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Traffic Alert, Park Assist and Light Assist. An electric vehicle based on converting an existing gas-powered vehicle is always less efficient and more difficult to sell when compared to their less expensive gas-powered counterparts. 30,000 starting price, that it might actually be somewhat competitive with other EVs, like the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, for a short while. We are definitely more excited about VW’s first vehicles built to be electric from the ground up on a new platform. Those will first roll out starting in 2019 and the German automaker is seriously investing in them.
