VW goes retro

Volkswagen has added a 1960s-style dune buggy to its ID family of electric vehicles in its latest attempt to reference the automotive past while moving into the zero-emissions future.

Dubbed ID Buggy, the minimalist concept was revealed at the Geneva motor show last week with a striking exterior paintwork combination of lime green, black and grey, punctuated by four distinct red tow hooks.

By reinterpreting the iconic vehicle type, the ID Buggy’s aluminium, steel and plastic body goes without a fixed roof and doors, while its waterproof cabin’s two-seat layout can be converted into a four-seater.

The exterior has prominent circular headlights and tail-lights that are in keeping with the ID Buggy name, while the lime-green-accented fivespoke wheels are wrapped in chunky BF Goodrich All-terrain TA tyres.

Pitched by the German brand as a ‘vehicle for summer, on the beach or in the city’, the ID Buggy is based on Volkswagen Group’s modular electric drive matrix platform that underpins the four other ID models that preceded it.

In this case, the concept uses an underfloor high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack and a 150kw electric motor mounted on the rear axle.

Volkswagen says a second drive unit could be added up front in the future to provide all-wheel drive.

The European auto giant is keen to make modular electric-drive matrix accessible to rival car-makers in need of EV architecture, with Ford Motor Company notably already exploring the possibility as part of its recently announced alliance with the Volkswagen Group.

This offer also now extends to the ID Buggy, with the company saying third parties, such as start-ups and smallseries manufacturers, can build dune buggies based on the concept.

Volkswagen brand chief operating officer Ralf Brandstatter said the ID Buggy demonstrated the broad spectrum of emission-free mobility that could be achieved with the modular electric-drive matrix within the Volkswagen brand.

“We want to open up the platform for third-party suppliers,” he said.

The ID Buggy has joined the ID hatch, Paris 2016; ID Buzz van, Detroit 2017; ID Crozz SUV, Shanghai 2017; and ID Vizzion sedan, Geneva 2018; as EV concepts revealed by the company at motor shows in recent years.

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