Skip advert
Advertisement

New electric Volkswagen e-up! with 'extended range' confirmed for Frankfurt Motor Show

VW plotting group-wide electric city car revolution which could see petrol powered A-segment cars culled altogether

A to Z guide to electric cars - VW e-up!

Volkswagen will reveal a freshly re-engineered e-up! city car with additional electric range at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Speaking with Auto Express, sales and marketing boss Jurgen Stackmann explained the significance of the show for the Volkswagen brand, and in particular, the company's electric ambitions. 

Volkswagen planning rugged electric Land Rover Defender rival

Advertisement - Article continues below

"Everything comes together - everything we have worked on for almost three years. New brand design, a very fresh approach to our style". 

Volkswagen will introduce the production version of the Golf sized ID. hatchback at the Frankfurt show, while Stackmann also promised we'll get to see a "hint" of the car to follow it: the finished version of the ID. Crozz SUV. However, when asked about sub-C segment electric vehicles, the Volkswagen executive explained that the brand's immediate plan is to bring the e-up! electric city car back into the fold. 

“The market below will be captured by a fabulous e-up! with an extended range that will be shown to you at Frankfurt as well," said Stackmann. 

Volkswagen plans to produce a Polo sized electric supermini using the MEB platform, possibly priced from around £20,000, but battery costs mean it is unlikely to surface as a production model until 2023 at the earliest. As such the updated e-up! will have to occupy a sizable hole in Volkswagen's electric line-up, so  a decent upgrade over the 99 mile range of the old e-up! could be on the cards.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement - Article continues below

Rising costs and new emissions legislation could force VW into axing the regular up! city car and offer it as an electric vehicle only. A longer-range version of the e-up! supports this.

Advertisement - Article continues below

The future of the up! has been hanging in the balance for some time, but at the Geneva Motor Show back in March Stackmann revealed to Auto Express that new regulations will make it impossible to justify a business case for a new, conventionally powered city car.

Geneva Motor Show 2019

“We are working to give a second life to the e-up! - it has big role to play in the next three to four year,” Stackmann told us. “In the long term the big question mark is if the legal system is pursuing and implementing the legal regulations they have just confirmed there is not a single business case for the cars the size of the up! – its just not possible.”

The up! is built alongside its sister vehicles, the SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo, which will also get electric variants in the near future. But the project is said to have fallen short of VW’s own internal profit targets. Given the increased cost the project would pass on to SEAT and Skoda with VW’s withdrawal it’s unlikely that a successor to the Mii and Citigo will be developed, although that remains unconfirmed.

Stackmann added: “The cars are too small to carry high technology and a normal combustion engine is just impossible to reach the required CO2 levels. So in theory you’d have to sell an electric car to compensate for the problem of a [conventional] up! where the margin is already thin. We are focusing on the e-up! going forwards.”

However, the e-up! will not become part of VW’s new ID. range of electric vehicles, Stackman told us. As the car is not able to switch to the new MEB platform it will sit as VW’s entry point to EV ownership.

What do you think VW should do with the up!? Let us know in the comments...

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

"BYD, Dacia, MG and Renault are among the most impressive and in-touch car brands in the world"
Opinion - MG3
Opinion

"BYD, Dacia, MG and Renault are among the most impressive and in-touch car brands in the world"

Mike Rutherford is confused as to why so many car manufacturers avoided the 2024 Geneva Motor Show
3 Mar 2024
BMW Isetta-inspired Microlino EV coming to the UK, and we’ve driven it!
Microlino Lite - Geneva front
News

BMW Isetta-inspired Microlino EV coming to the UK, and we’ve driven it!

The tiny Microlino and the new Microlino Lite electric cars have been given the green light for UK sales
1 Mar 2024
New Renault 5: price, specs, launch and on sale dates
Renault 5 - front
News

New Renault 5: price, specs, launch and on sale dates

The much-loved Renault 5 is back in action as a brand new electric car. Here's everything you need to know about it...
28 Feb 2024
Geneva Motor Show 2024: full show round-up and all the cars
Geneva Motor Show 2024 - header
News

Geneva Motor Show 2024: full show round-up and all the cars

Less extensive than it once was, the Geneva Motor Show 2024 still brought some interesting new models
27 Feb 2024

Most Popular

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay
Road tax documentation
News

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay

Drivers with newer cars will now pay £10 more per year, although the biggest gas guzzlers fare even worse
28 Mar 2024
Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power
Dacia Sandero - front
News

Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power

Both the Sandero and Sandero Stepway ranges have been tweaked, gaining more safety features to meet the latest regulations
26 Mar 2024
Car Deal of the Day: updated Skoda Enyaq at 0% APR and a free home wallbox charger thrown in
Skoda Enyaq iV - front cornering
News

Car Deal of the Day: updated Skoda Enyaq at 0% APR and a free home wallbox charger thrown in

Skoda’s family-friendly EV with 348-mile range is our Car Deal of the Day for 26 March
26 Mar 2024