Volkswagen is reportedly ready to unveil an experimental one-seater urban electric car at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 2011. The one-seater is targeted to be used as a commuter vehicle for limited city driving. No details of the price-range or other specifications of the car are disclosed yet.
The one-seater car would be smaller and lighter than a 2-seater and that would, naturally, lead to an improved mileage from a given battery size. Previous attempts at a one-seater electric personal transport by Segway and Sinclair have not been successful. VW is, of course, a much bigger name in the auto industry, and its entry could trigger acceptance of the one-seater commuter car.
Some VW watchers predict that the VW concept car will use the same chassis, motor and battery as Audi’s e-Tron. Audi is a sister company of VW. VW plans to offer battery recharge from renewable energy sources, as part of its EV service package. This is to overcome the criticism that carbon emitting utility electricity is used to recharge EV batteries.
Volkswagen, which made 4.75 million cars between January and July 2011, is well on the target to achieve its ambition of being the no 1 car maker in the world by 2018. Their forecast of EVs in the total car production is, however, a modest 3%. This underscores the issues with acceptability of the EVs as the primary family car as well as the limitations with battery technology at the present time.
Via: egmcartech
