Volkswagen is developing a standalone electric vehicle designed to take on the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt, a new report finds.
The yet-unnamed model will ride on the same modular MEB platform as the electric version of the upcoming eighth-generation Golf, and the two EVs will share many powertrain components. However, the EV will feature a completely different design, though it’s too early to tell whether it will be a sedan or a hatchback, and it will be more affordable than its Golf-badged sibling. Australian website Motoring has learned it will likely offer a more range, too.
Dr. Herbert Diess, Volkswagen’s new CEO, wants to add more EVs to the Wolfsburg-based car maker’s lineup as soon as possible in a bid to restore its image in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal. Executives haven’t decided if the Bolt-fighting model will land before the next-generation Golf, which is expected to debut in 2018, or slightly after.
The MEB platform is being developed to underpin many electric vehicles in the coming years. One of them is the production version of the retro-inspired Budd-e concept that was shown to the public last month at the CES show. It will offer a roughly 375-mile driving range when it goes on sale near the turn of the decade.
Photo by Ronan Glon.
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