There were some reports early this year that had us worried that Volkswagen will discontinue the Beetle, but a new report gives us at least some hope for the future of the iconic model. News has just come in that Volkswagen is considering an electric-powered successor to the current Beetle.
Volkswagen’s board of directors will consider plans for an electric, rear-wheel-drive version of its current Beetle as a sister model to the production version of its battery-powered ID Buzz microbus concept and part of the automaker’s plans for its initial wave of electric cars.
Board Chairman Herbert Diess has just reveled that the successor to the 3rd generation Beetle could be based on VW’s modular electric MEB platform. Volkswagen is aiming to introduce 30 new electric vehicles within a decade.
“If we wanted to do a Beetle, electrically it would be much better than today’s model, much closer to history, because it could be rear-wheel-drive,” Diess added. VW’s original, iconic “Bug” version of the Beetle featured a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive configuration when it launched in 1938. The current iteration, which resurrected the Beetle nameplate in 1997, is a more tradition front-mounted engine delivering power to the front wheels. It’s also based on the same platform as the Golf.
Diess has also hinted recently at an all-electric Type 181, better known in the U.S. as the Thing. The MEB platform will support up to 15 new electric-powered models, five of which will be sold under the VW badge.
