VW has revived its legendary beach buggy with a disarmingly cute concept car.
An unexpected reveal at this week’s Geneva auto show, the new beach buggy draws inspiration from the original 1960s version in terms of styling, but its powerplant and drivetrain are entirely more contemporary.
The official naming convention is ID Buggy and underneath the daringly styled package, there is a sophisticated electric vehicle platform, featuring a notable degree of adaptability. By moving around battery packs and the electric drive motors, the ID Buggy can be converted from rear- to four-wheel drive. Alternatively, it can also add two additional seats, to enable three passengers and a diver.
Classic beach buggy tub-type external styling is balanced aesthetically by larger 18-inch alloy wheels, which rolls BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres, either 255/55 in size at the front and 285/60 at the rear. These tyres should gift the ID Buggy great floatation in sandy terrain and soften any terrain impacts for those who desire to use it in a challenging off-road environment.
Powering the ID Buggy is a 60kWh battery pack, which energises a 150kW electric motor. The ID Buggy also offers an impressive surge of torque from its electric motor, which rates at 309Nm. That is good enough to give it impressive sprinting ability, when measured in the benchmark 0-100kph sprint, which it runs in a brisk 7.2 seconds.
The ID Buggy’s interior is minimalistic in true dune buggy heritage, with a twin-spoke steering wheel covered by water-proof Nappa leather. Clever cabin design has the entire ID Buggy’s interior architecture covered with weatherproof materials.
VW’s executives have confirmed that although the ID Buggy is merely a concept for now, the vehicle does feature a 70% production component coefficient. That means it is nearly three-quarters ready to be built. For those who desire the simplicity of off-road driving, in a compact package, this battery powered VW Buggy is a future which cannot happen quickly enough.
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