Yahoo Autos The Next VW Beetle Might Be an Electric Four-Door
Ever since Volkswagen announced plans to make a modern Microbus based on its new electric-car platform, we've wondered if the automaker would do the same with the Beetle. As it turns out, it might: Earlier this week, Autocar reported that VW is considering building an electric, four-door Beetle, and our colleagues at Car and Driver seem to think so, too.
Certainly, VW executives have a new electric Beetle on their minds. Last November, VW brand chief Herbert Deiss-a strong advocate for the modern electric Microbus-floated a Beetle EV as a possibility. He also said a future Beetle be rear-wheel drive, just like the original, and unlike the both versions of the modern, front-engine Beetle.
The current-generation Beetle will end production in the near future, and VW doesn't have a direct replacement for it. In 2020, Volkswagen will launch the I.D. hatchback, the first car to ride on its new EV platform, and the Microbus-inspired I.D. Buzz will arrive in 2022. So, if the Beetle were to make a return as an electric car, we probably wouldn't see it until after 2022 at the very earliest.
Speaking to Autocar, VW design Klaus Bischoff confirmed that his team has sketched out concepts for a four-door Beetle riding on the same platform as the I.D. hatch, but nothing beyond that. He says VW needs to focus hard on getting volume-selling EVs to market before it can consider a new Beetle.
The idea of a four-door Beetle is interesting. While a purist might prefer a two-door, the addition of rear doors could give the Beetle much broader appeal-the same way Mini expanded sales by introducing four-door variants of its own retro-inspired cars.
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