VW to reveal electric car

The electric dream will take a step closer for VW at this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show where the German firm is planning to take the wraps off an all-new electrically powered concept car.

Following in the footsteps of the hybrid Golf TwinDrive and the super-frugal Up! – the forthcoming replacement for the Lupo – VW will reveal the next step in its green plans with a model that could rival Vauxhall’s Ampera and lay the foundations for a solely electric VW of the near future.

“We will have a host of concept cars at Frankfurt and although we haven’t yet decided, we want to show an electric car,” said Peter Thul, head of communications, Volkswagen.

Asked what form the concept could take, Thul was tight-lipped but admitted the model was unlikely to be a rival for the Tesla, nor would it be an electric version of the BlueSport roadster concept revealed at Detroit earlier this year.

“We will not launch a niche market car just to show our electric technology,” he continued. “We would only launch a car that people could actually buy at a reasonable price. It would need to have a range of 200km, be safe, reliable and able to be used everyday. It would be a car that fits with the Volkswagen brand.”

VW already has a joint venture with to develop batteries with Sanyo and Thul revealed that the firm is advanced in its electric car programme.

“At the moment we are heading down two routes – continued development of fuel efficient, high performance petrol engines, like our TSI range but side-by-side with this, we are heavily developing electric powertrains. We see hybrids as a stepping stone, not a solution.”