First sketches of VW’s crucial new electric concept car shown

Volkswagen is gearing up for what could be its most critical car launch since the 1974 unveiling of the Mk1 Golf. This new concept car, still unnamed but revealed in these official sketches, is an all-battery electric car which is set to go on sale as a Golf-sized EV hatch in 2019.

Thus far, VW has been coy about specific details other than that it is built on the company's freshly minted MED platform, the all-electric cousin to the MQB chassis which currently underpins the likes of the Golf, Passat and Tiguan. The Budd-e electric minibus concept, shown off at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show is based on the same chassis and it is set to become almost as ubiquitous in the VW Group as the more traditional MQB setup.

‘Revolutionary’

“The vehicle is as revolutionary as the Beetle was seven decades ago, before it evolved into the world’s best-selling car of the last century” said VW in a statement, clearly not shying away from the importance of the new model. “This car, too, has the potential to make history with its completely new vehicle concept. The production vehicle which follows will be the first Volkswagen to enter the market based on the new modular electrification kit (MEB).”

While the concept has no b-post and sliding rear doors, the production version is likely to be much more conventional, although it should have impressive interior space. Insiders are already speaking of Passat space in a Golf-sized body. The cabin will be almost totally button-free, with most functions controlled by a series of large touchscreens, equipped with gesture control.

One-charge range

The critical question now is the car’s one-charge range. It seems as if VW will adopt Porsche’s 15-minute quick-charge system, which gives an 80 per cent battery charge from a high-output source in about half the time taken by current electric cars. VW’s engineers have previously stated that the MEB platform has the capacity to carry sufficient batteries to have a 600km one-charge range, but given the car’s relatively compact dimensions, that seems unlikely.

However, VW generally considers a range of around 400km to be the tipping point for potential mass acceptance of electric vehicles, so expect a number of around that value to be given for the concept version. It remains to be seen if the production model will have a range that long across the board, or if it will be reserved for a range-topping, expensive model as is the case with rival products from such as Tesla.

The importance of this project to VW can’t be underestimated. Quite apart from a general move towards electrification of mass-market cars, this is VW’s corporate mea culpa for its dieselgate transgressions, its development financed in part by a €2 billion zero-emissions research and development fund formed as part of the company’s deal with the US department of justice.

With investors this week demanding as much as $9 billion in damages for the 35 per cent plummet in VW’s stock price following the scandal and news that the repair work needed by the 11 million cars affected by the scandal will now stretch in 2017, Volkswagen desperately needs to put its best battery foot forward.