Volkswagen continues the teasing campaign for the Multivan. The new generation is on its way and we find clever things about it every day.
The interplay of electronics and software is making new functions possible. In the next generation Multivan, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles utilises this interplay to transform the gear knob into a switch and thus to reduce it in size so that the gap for climbing through to the back becomes even bigger. The technology behind it: shift-by-wire. That means electronic relaying of the gear change signals. With one click.
The prerequisite for this is the fact that in the future the Multivan will be equipped with a dual clutch gearbox, aka a DSG. That’s because where there is no longer a manual gearbox, space for a manual gear change mechanism, gear knob included, is no longer needed.
It is integrated ergonomically perfectly into the new instrument panel to the right of the steering wheel. The DSG switch is thus on a level with the 10-inch display of the infotainment system – on which, for the first time in the Multivan, a real 360-degree representation of the vehicle is also displayed as an ‘Area View’ (optional) in order to make parking and manoeuvring very easy. One floor lower, meanwhile, the conventional handbrake lever has also been cleared out of the way. From now on, the parking brake is activated electronically by button or automatically. And thus, the space between the driver’s seat and front passenger seat increases even more. So that you can quickly jump into the back to see to the children during a stop. Or to get something from the cool box. Or to use the new multi-function table from the back as a centre console between the driver’s and front passenger seat. But that is already moving on to another story about the new Multivan.
Source: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
