FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen NILS

NILS, Volkswagen's latest take on minimalist urban mobility, accepts that the majority of city drivers travel one-up.

That is why this kooky electric urban commuter carries only one person, and minimal luggage, and has a range of just 65km.

With its glass gullwing configuration, skinny 17-inch outrigger wheels and narrow-gutted body, NILS is designed to do more economically and cleanly what the bulk of road-bound German commuters do, in a rather wasteful and dirty way, on their journey to work each day.

Because it only has to carry one passenger, NILS is able to do without a heavy electric motor and a large battery pack to achieve its 65km range; It weighs just 460kg in total.

Volkswagen says the "reasonably small" 15kW electric motor (it can spike up to 25kW if required) and lithium-ion battery pack are able to provide a feasible range, along with spritely performance, yet are relatively inexpensive.

NILS goes from zero to 100km/h in less than 11 seconds and has a maximum speed of 130km/h. The company's press release says it drives "like a go-kart".

It has been made safe too. Electronic stability control is standard, as is an automatic distance control system that maintains a predetermined minimum space between it and the vehicle travelling in front. Similar to Volvo's City Safety system, NILS is able to avoid entirely, through appropriate braking, a collision in certain situations below 30km/h.

So light is the vehicle that a lot of things normally using power assistant for easy operation are manually controlled. This includes the steering and exterior mirror adjustment. NILS does, however, feature electronics for the heating and ventilation systems.

Boot space in the aluminium space frame body is said to be good for storage of items such as a "case of drinks and a bag." NILS stands just 1.2 metres tall and is a mere 3.04 metres long - even shorter than the Volkswagen up!.

In a world where 90 per cent of car-driving commuters travel one-up, and cover around 25km in their daily travels, something like NILS would make a serious dent in carbon emissions and fuel consumption. Would a vehicle like this be appropriate for your daily commute? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.