Volkswagen will reportedly use next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show to unveil a single-seat electric vehicle aimed at city commuters. The car will debut as a concept, but with the potential to eventually make the leap to production.
Following in the footsteps of the One-Liter, L1 and XL1 concept cars, the upcoming concept car is expected to showcase VW’s vision of an ultra-efficient commuter car. Although the car will only offer seating for one, it promises to be completely carbon neutral, thanks to its electric powertrain and home charging stations that will exclusively use renewable power sources.
“It’s a new kind of mobility – a new vehicle concept,” Jürgen Leohold, VW’s head of research, told the Financial Times. “Also, it’s physics. If you limit a car to one person, you can make it smaller, less weight, you need less energy to transport the person, and then obviously … it can be better on CO2 and fuel efficiency.”
No details were given on the car – including range – but the concept will likely build off of VW’s latest XL1 show car. The XL1 – which debuted in January 2011 – sports a drag coefficient of just 0.186, allowing for a 313mpg rating from its diesel-electric drivetrain.
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1.’VW to unveil…’ view
