Report: Next Volkswagen Beetle to be a four-door EV

Volkswagen is reportedly contemplating turning the next-generation Beetle into a pure electric, four-door model in its quest to broaden its EV range. If green light, the model would sit on Volkswagen Group’s flexible MEB electric vehicle architecture that is set to debut under the I.D. EV hatchback next year.

VW design boss, Klaus Bischoff confirmed he has already produced a sketch of the four-door EV Beetle but said a decision to put it into production is still two or three years away, as the company is focusing on the I.D. range – the brand’s first all EV range.

“Our duty is to get the volume [I.D.] models under way. These cars have super-complicated technology and if you do too much, it’s an overload. Then we move into more exotic cars and the field of emotion,” he told Autocar in the U.K.

The current-generation Beetle, which has been on sale since 2011, has never been a big seller for Volkswagen; with the company confirming it will not be directly replaced once production ceases next year. The model has already been discontinued in Australia.

VW boss Herbert Diess has also previously dropped hints about an electric Beetle: “If we wanted to do a Beetle EV, it would be much better than today’s model, much closer to history, because it could be rear-wheel drive.”

Referring to the MEB tool kit providing a perfect basis for the model, Diess said: “We have a good chance on the electric side. You can do derivatives efficiently. We have a very flexible platform. We can do nice things: rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.”

Source and image: Autocar

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