GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen ID. Buggy concept debuts

Those rusted-on V8 addicts that dive onto forums to lament the coming of the EV world should start paying attention.

Volkswagen’s idea of an EV future isn’t bleak. It’s the ID.Buggy – and we love it.

Predicted here an eon ago by none other than Volkswagen’s grand poo-bah, Dr Herbert Diess, the ID.Buggy is an eco-friendly, guilt-free interpretation of the classic 1960s and ‘70s Manx Buggy.

And with enough support Volkswagen could even put it into production. After all, a dune buggy is something Volkswagen has wanted to build for a very long time.

It’s the fifth electric concept car, following the ID. hatch, the ID.Buzz van, the ID.Crozz SUV and the ID.Vizzion limousine. The first of these into production will be the ID.Neo hatch next year.

And in a major signal of how Volkswagen expects its ID.Buggy to be used, it will be the only one of its electric cars without any kind of driver-assistance systems.

While we are waiting for a drive of the concept car, Volkswagen insists the rear-drive buggy will hit 100km/h in 7.2 seconds and it has limited it to 160km/h because, really, what more do you need in the dunes?

Sitting on the upcoming MEB (Module Electric Matrix) architecture, the two-seat ID.Buggy sticks its 62kWh lithium-ion battery in the floor and attaches it to a 150kW electric motor.

Electric cars and sand were made for each other, Volkswagen insists, because the ID.Buggy’s rear-mounted motor will punch out up to 310Nm of torque right from a standstill.

And it does all of that with just a single gear.

There is also a back-up plan if widespread public opinion convinces Volkswagen that the ID.Buggy doesn’t have enough urgency.

The company admits it’s already designed the bodywork to fit a second electric motor on the front axle, making it even more effective in the sand or for general off-road work.

The ID.Buggy has an EV range of just 250km, but Volkswagen insists there are good reasons for this.

Firstly, a smaller range translates to a lighter (and considerably cheaper) battery pack that’s easier to package.

Secondly, the I.D. Buggy’s nature is as a weekend toy and a street cruiser, rather than a big-range commuter car.

Running on 255/55 R18 front and 285/60 R18 BF Goodrich All Terrain TA tyres, the ID.Buggy will be lifted to deliver 240mm of ground clearance beneath its axles.

The roofless concept is just 4063mm long, but 1890mm wide and only 1463mm high.

There’s a 2650mm wheelbase that’s longer than a current Golf, even though the body is a significant 192mm shorter.

The overhangs are also tiny, at 686mm up front and 727mm in the rear, and the side sill panels are also part of the aluminium underbody protection system.

Unlike certain California-built EV SUVs, Volkswagen actively wants the ID.Buggy to be driven off-road.

And in a huge leap for an organisation as tautly controlled as Volkswagen, its MEB-based architecture and powertrain will even be opened up to outside low-volume body shops.

“As in the past, Volkswagen is opening up to external producers with the ID.Buggy concept,” Volkswagen insisted.

“On this basis you can build the emission-free dune buggy for a new era – no matter whether for Santa Barbara in California, the Yalong Bay in China or St Peter-Ording in Germany.

“In general, the MEB also has the potential to become the new technical basis for e-mobility for many automobile manufacturers.”

This shouldn’t be a shock, with Volkswagen announcing earlier this year that it would make the MEB architecture available for competitors to use (Ford will be one of the first cabs off the rank) to help push up the economies of scale.

Volkswagen’s design boss Klaus Bischoff, the brand’s technical and development board member Frank Welsch and Dr Diess have all pushed this project, hard.

“The purist design of the ID.Buggy is the modern, retro-free interpretation of an icon,” Bischoff said.

“Unmistakably a buggy. And yet completely reconceived,” he claimed.

Light is the new chrome for Volkswagen, with the round headlights echoing a signature of older Beetles, while the Buggy recharges via a socket hidden beneath the rear logo.

There are raised front wings, low sill panel openings, no doors and a strong shoulder and a pronounced, tall rear-end.

The interior is minimalistic, with a squashed-hexagon steering wheel and very few buttons. Even the traditional gear lever has been squeezed onto the steering wheel, with a small wheel on the right spoke of the wheel needing to be scrolled and clicked to change gear.

The accelerator pedal is highlighted by a consumer electronics-style ‘Start’ triangle, while the brake pedal has a traditional ‘Stop’ sign on it. Yes, it’s a bit naff.

There is a targa bar for rollover protection, while the windscreen frame is reinforced for the same reason.

Obviously, 250km isn’t a lot of range and will probably deteriorate as the sand saps its power.

Volkswagen has a plan for that, too, which it will debut in Geneva.

It has created a mobile quick-charging station, with 360kWh of charging capacity, that can either be permanently installed or moved around on demand for things like festivals or club weekends at the beach.

Volkswagen insists it will enter series production next year with the mobile stations, which use a smartphone’s powerbank as its small-scale inspiration.

Using DC quick-charge technology, the stations can recharge with up to 100kW of power, allowing MEB-based cars to be 80 per cent recharged in just half an hour.

And when the station’s electric tank runs dry, it can be swapped out for another one, though the permanently connected versions are constantly topped up by mains power.

They will also be a solution to another recycling issue, using old lithium-ion batteries from older I.D. and other MEB models, reconditioning them and putting them back into use as charging stations.