Volkswagen is reportedly thinking about reintroducing the iconic Beetle as a full-electric model, according to a report by Autocar. This is surprising news, following news of its discontinuation due to poor sales earlier this year, albeit just the hardtop model.
Now, there are ongoing talks of a zero-emissions Bug, one that would ride on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Platform (MEB) platform on which the I.D. range of electric vehicles – the first of which is set to go on sale in 2020 – will be built. If it does come to fruition, it will have rear-wheel drive, much like the original Beetle.
“If we wanted to do a Beetle, electrically it would be much better than today’s model, much closer to history, because it could be rear-wheel drive,” said Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen. The flexible MEB platform also makes it a lot easier to build the car.
When the project is a go, the electric Beetle will be a sister model to the I.D. Buzz, which is an all-electric microbus concept that’s already been confirmed for production. As for propulsion, the Beetle may benefit from same rear axle-mounted motor as the I.D. Concept, with the battery mounted on the floor.
Volkswagen said the I.D’s motor makes 170 PS and can deliver about 600 km of range, all while matching the Golf in terms of pricing and power. Good news is, the MEB platform is able to support up to 15 new electric vehicles, five of which will carry the Volkswagen badge.
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Everybody now moving towards EV. I hope our Perodua and Proton also give the rakyat EV. Don’t wait until 2050 to give us EV.
Perodua is an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition cause Perodua doesnt allow other brands like Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Honda, Toyota, Nissan to be at the top, only Perodua is only wanted itself to be at the top which is very selfish, highly offensive, snobbish and disrespectful to other car brands. Lastly don’t buy Perodua and also hopefully Perodua sales will keep on dropping
only if we have the infrastructure first & policy first.. or else all these plain talks are plain bullshit
Yes please. I would support that very much. Put the motors on the floor for low centre of gravity, and you might have an enthusiast’s wet dream. Who cares if it makes no sound, if its fun to drive.
Improve the refinement.
The design to stay close to original Beetle.
Please come back beetle.. you are so cute… and seriously you are the icon of VW along with the kleinbus.
I ady been in this car 30 years ago
Don’t price it stupidly and it might just work…