VW's eco-friendly BlueMotion range gets rugged with the arrival of a Touareg Hybrid.

Due in 2010 it features average fuel consumption of less than 9.0 litres per 100km, with CO2 emissions less than 210g/km. Power comes from the new V6 TSI petrol engine in tandem with an electric motor. A newly developed eight-speed automatic transmission transfers the power to all the wheels via a full-time all-wheel drive system.

The 3.0-litre engine delivers 245kW at 5500 rpm and generates a maximum torque of 440Nm starting from 3000rpm. Thanks to the E-motor, more torque than usual is available from a standstill. The E-motor integrated between the V6 TSI and the transmission adds power of 38kW and up to 300Nm torque. In so-called boosting — where requests for maximum power and torque (by kickdown or gearshift selector in "S" position) are supported by the engagement of both V6 TSI and electric drive systems — the powertrain briefly supplies a power of 275kW and the maximum available torque increases to 550Nm. In this case, the Touareg Hybrid prototype accelerates to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds.

But the hybrid system wasn't designed to deliver sports car performance. Its purpose is to deliver low emissions and fuel consumption values. Compared to a conventional SUV of the same size, VW reckons the it gives fuel savings of over 25 percent in city driving. Development engineers calculate an average savings of 17 percent in combined city, highway and freeway driving.

This is achieved in four ways. An integrated start-stop system significantly reduces fuel consumption, especially in urban driving. During braking, the E-motor operates as a generator and recovers energy, which is then stored in the high voltage battery. The SUV can operate on the electric motor alone at speeds of up to 50km/h, which reduces fuel consumption and eliminates all emissions in city driving. And, finally, as soon as the driver removes their foot from the accelerator, a clutch disengages the petrol engine from the transmission, making the Touareg coast better.

For once, less is more.