Yahoo Autos This Electric Concept Car Is the Volkswagen Beetle of the 21st Century
Is this Volkswagen's newest take on the Beetle?
The automaker sent out these teaser images of a new concept car set to debut at the Paris Motor Show tomorrow. And while the concept is officially named I.D., Volkswagen believes this car will be as important to the 21st Century as the Beetle was to the 20th.
The automaker says its theme at the Paris Motor Show is "Think New," saying this design study signals a new era for the beleaguered automaker. The all-electric I.D. concept promises a driving range of more than 370 miles and an autonomous driving mode where the steering wheel retracts into the dashboard. VW says the compact electric car will launch in 2020 alongside the Golf, with fully automated driving available in 2025.
"The vehicle is as revolutionary as the Beetle was seven decades ago," Volkswagen's short blurb on the concept car states. "The concept car has the potential to make history with its completely new vehicle concept."
Volkswagen also says that the production version of this car will be the first to use the automaker's Modular Electric Drive platform (internally known as MEB).
Perhaps most telling, though, is a little detail tucked into the email Volkswagen sent to the automotive press: The download folder of concept car images is called "Beetle."
So, we're calling it. In some way, shape or form, this is the new vision of the Volkswagen Beetle (albeit by a different name)-a four-door electric car based on the automaker's new modular platform. Only time will tell whether it's as revolutionary as the original.
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