Skip to main content

Report: The VW Microbus to Return, Appeal to Hippies as EV

Details about the second vehicle in Volkswagen’s upcoming fleet of battery electric vehicles are slowly taking shape, and it looks like it will be a seven-passenger van based on the company’s historic microbus.

1958-Volkswagen-Deluxe-Microbus_269863_low_res

The second electric vehicle—call it the Electric Type 2, for simplicity’s sake—will share the MEB platform that underpins VW’s ID concept. That concept, which premiered at the Paris Auto Show, is the first car confirmed for the MEB platform.

Like the ID, the Electric Type 2, will power the rear wheels from an engine placed between those same wheels. Energy will come from flat batteries housed under the body.

DB2016AL01902

The Electric Type 2, though, will be longer and wider than the ID to fit its seven passengers, and thus will be able to store more batteries. According to a report from Autocar, it will have a range of up to 500 km (310 miles).

Despite being bigger than the ID, the new microbus is rumored to be more than 15 inches smaller (from the outside) than the current Multivan. At 4,900 mm (193 inches), it’s only about 4 inches longer than the current Passat.

VW-ID-Concept-1

That jives with what VW has been saying about the MEB platform. Thanks to its layout—rear-engine with flat batteries—there’s more room inside for passengers, much like the original, air cooled VWs.

Just what it will look like remains to be seen, but Autocar reports that it will feature many microbus-like cues. That’s to say that it will have a vertical windshield, a bluff front, a straight back, and a curbside sliding door.

The Electric Type 2 would be the second of five EVs that VW has promised as the initial vehicles in its electric onslaught. As a result, it would be endowed with all of the companies latest infotainment and autonomous driving functions.

[source: Autocar]

The post Report: The VW Microbus to Return, Appeal to Hippies as EV appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2hvTUFF
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...