The Beetle, it is the successor to an automotive icon. The new car is considered the sportiest Beetle ever. Now Volkswagen is showing, in an Asian premiere at Auto China in Beijing, how this sportiness can also be transferred to a Beetle with pure electric drive. The Volkswagen E-Bugster was specially designed for this mission, a two seat Beetle speedster, 85 kW in power, 0 to 100 km/h in 10.8 seconds, with zero emissions yet the sharpest of proportions.
Just how much energy the driver of the Volkswagen E-Bugster is requesting with the electric pedal at any moment is shown in a power display. Instruments also include a driving range indicator and a display showing the battery’s charge state. Also new in the Beetle is an instrument that shows the driver the intensity of battery regeneration. Regeneration refers to the recovery of braking energy as soon as the driver’s foot leaves the accelerator pedal or brakes, kinetic energy is converted into electricity, which is stored in the battery. This increases the driving range of the VW E-Bugster. By the way, Volkswagen calls the complete electric drive unit Blue e-Motion.
The Volkswagen E-Bugster is a Beetle that could hardly be made to look more dynamic. Actually, it is a sports car. It has a height of less than 1,400 mm, which is about 90 mm less than that of the hard top Beetle. And the production model already looks really powerful with its sharply sculpted proportions. The E-Bugster’s width (1,838 mm) grew by 30 mm, while its length (4,278) remained the same as that of the production car. The Volkswagen E-Bugster displays unique dynamic styling from every viewing angle. Design details of the production version were supplemented by new styling elements. In its stance on the road, the concept car looks as though it were cast as a single piece. There is a very simple reason for this in developing the production model introduced in October 2011, the Beetle design team had already considered all potential derivatives for future models on its radar screen of possibilities. And that is in part how a speedster with an E-motor evolved, the VW E-Bugster.
In front, it is the swept back and wide windscreen that catches the eye, its glass extends laterally to a point above the A-pillars. The Volkswagen E-Bugster, which is equipped with LED headlights, is also distinguished by the highly customized bumpers of the production Beetle designers integrated the daytime running lights to the left and right of the central air intake as bands of LED lights in a C-shape. Ever since the e-up, concept car was presented in Europe, this form of daytime running light has been a feature on Volkswagen electric vehicle studies. These styling elements also appear in modified form as reflectors in the rear bumper, which was also redesigned. The rear windscreen of the E-Bugster proves that the rear windows of a speedster do not need to restrict visibility like the arrow slits in castle walls it is extremely wide.
The combination of high-tech equipment and dynamic performance is also reflected in the interior. Sport seats and a continuous centre tunnel in body colour underscore the sportiness of the E-Bugster. The use of aluminium as the material for the door handles and belt guides, and the lightweight construction styling of the steering wheel also produce a direct connection between the exterior and interior. Starting the VW E-Bugster is a unique experience, the Start button not only activates the drive system, it also puts a light show into motion. First, the interior is immersed in a white light, then a blue light. It begins as a light pulse in the instrument cluster from there the light emanates as a thin line of light, just one millimetre wide, coursing into the door window sills and around the air nozzles a kind of visual awakening of the E-Bugster.
Jom komen!