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Volkswagen has designed a new concept electric pod car that will be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show taking place in just under two weeks. The Nils, ideal for a single commuter, is a possible solution for crowded urban roads. Developed with the German Transport Ministry and designed to be environmentally sustainable is capable of travelling up to approximately 137km an hour with a range between charges of about 65km and weighs just 19kg. The single seater is just 3040mm long – half a metre shorter than an Up – and sits lower than a Porsche 911.
The battery has a capacity of 5.3kWh and is fully charged after two hours with a three point plug.
The design, based around a light but sturdy aluminum spaceframe, features gullwing style doors and free-standing wheels which makes it both fun to drive and friendly on the environment.
R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg said: “Nils is anything but a dry-run exercise and is very realistic. Despite its compact dimensions, the concept fulfils all safety requirements for contemporary vehicles.”
Ever looked at a VW Polo and thought, “Hmmm, that thing is just far too large. I wish Volkswagen made something much smaller.” No? Me neither. But if tiny cars are your thing, you’re in luck, as VW has confirmed that new up! (yes, lower case and exclamation mark are part of the model name) will be on sale in Europe by the end of the year.
Gallery and Specs after the jump.
As you all know, the German motoring giant VW had been a little behind to embrace hybrid tech for their vehicles. However, VW has now announced plans to provide a hybrid edition of every model they will make in future.
VW has come up with its new Transporter Sportline for their fans out there in the UK The best part of it is that the Sportline outfitting for the Transporter van can be had on both the panel van and Kombi models. It can be outfitted to both the short and long-wheelbase variants of the aforementioned models.
If you were following the massive international launch of the 2012 Beetle you might have noticed that a few news sites published the images before the press embargo of 1pm GMT. Those sites have felt the full wrath of some frightening VW lawyers and retracted their stories.
These then are the first official pictures of the 21st Century Beetle. Some UK sites are claiming an early 2012 release date, so we presume we’re looking at a July-September launch in SA. We’ll keep you posted.
It seems the car is based on the chassis from the Golf 6, but hey, which cars in the VW stable aren’t. Expect a full line up of VW engines, from the little 1.4 litre twincharged unit, all the way to a 2.0 turbo.
The interior looks like every other VW I’ve ever driven, which is no surprise, but at least you’ll be able to spec all the goodies like SatNav and the HDD music system with touch screen.
Ciro De Siena – OverdriveTV
Volkswagen has released the new 2012 Jetta GLI. The car features typical German refinement and performance – and also strikes a balance between the two. The trapezoidal headlights and the front grille add to the looks, cooling air intake and tray-shaped front spoiler tucked beneath the front bumper round off the macho look.
Volkswagen is on the verge of bringing its seventh generation Golf hatchback. The much awaited car is expected to come to dealerships by 2012-end or beginning of 2013.
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