After the demise of the new Beetle last year and comments from Herbert Diess that a new all-electric replacement was not to be, it may seem odd for the firm to put its weight behind the development of an electric retromod project based on the original model.
But that’s what it’s done; partnering with specialist eClassics, based in Renningen, Germany, Volkswagen has provided the powertrain more familiar to operating the e-Up! model to imbue a classic VW Beetle with up-to-the-minute electric vehicle technology.
The E-Beetle (or eKäfer), as currently featured at the Frankfurt Motor Show, uses fourteen lithium-ion modules combine to deliver up to 36.8 kWh, providing a theoretical range of 200km and just over 80bhp for the 1280kg vehicle. Both Volkswagen and eClassics keenly point out that this is just the beginning of electric retromod projects, with hints at a Porsche 356 on the cards. While an electric Beetle still isn’t a commercially available product by Volkswagen, eClassics are offering a conversion kit using the genuine Volkswagen components.
