Photo: Volkswagen
Herbert Diess, the current administrator of the Volkswagen brand, has revealed new information regarding an upcoming electric vehicle from the German automaker.
It appears that Volkswagen will showcase a near-production prototype of an electric model at this year’s Paris Motor Show. The event is held this fall, but the exhibit will be turned to a production model in 2019.
Volkswagen’s boss has not revealed why it will take so long to launch the new electric model, but we presume it has something to do with current battery technology and the range limit existent with current EVs.
The interview was published in Germany’s Wirtschafts Woche, but the people at Green Car Congress managed to extract the relevant bits. First of all, Volkswagen’s head honcho revealed that the exhibit would be sized comparatively to the current Golf, but it will come with the internal space of a Passat.
What sorcery is this, you ask? Well, since electric vehicles do not have to fit a fuel tank beneath the rear seats and a significantly sized power train under their hoods, engineers and designers can “play” with modular arrangements.
Among these configurations are some solutions that involve changing the shape of the passenger cabin, since traditional front overhangs are no longer required.
Instead, electric vehicles can fit their batteries under the passenger cell, while the motor can be placed on the axles. This allows designers to use unconventional shapes, like BMW does on its i3.
Furthermore, the possibilities regarding a body shape gain a new realm of options, as the placement of the internal combustion engine no longer dictates the form of the resulting vehicle.
Herbert Diess, the boss of the Volkswagen brand, also revealed that their next electric model, which will be exhibited in prototype form at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, will provide a range of 400 to 600 kilometers (250 - 373 miles). It will then create a variety of models, including an SUV, a coupe, a delivery van, and there’s more to come.
Volkswagen’s boss has not revealed why it will take so long to launch the new electric model, but we presume it has something to do with current battery technology and the range limit existent with current EVs.
The interview was published in Germany’s Wirtschafts Woche, but the people at Green Car Congress managed to extract the relevant bits. First of all, Volkswagen’s head honcho revealed that the exhibit would be sized comparatively to the current Golf, but it will come with the internal space of a Passat.
What sorcery is this, you ask? Well, since electric vehicles do not have to fit a fuel tank beneath the rear seats and a significantly sized power train under their hoods, engineers and designers can “play” with modular arrangements.
Among these configurations are some solutions that involve changing the shape of the passenger cabin, since traditional front overhangs are no longer required.
Instead, electric vehicles can fit their batteries under the passenger cell, while the motor can be placed on the axles. This allows designers to use unconventional shapes, like BMW does on its i3.
Furthermore, the possibilities regarding a body shape gain a new realm of options, as the placement of the internal combustion engine no longer dictates the form of the resulting vehicle.
Herbert Diess, the boss of the Volkswagen brand, also revealed that their next electric model, which will be exhibited in prototype form at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, will provide a range of 400 to 600 kilometers (250 - 373 miles). It will then create a variety of models, including an SUV, a coupe, a delivery van, and there’s more to come.
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