VW: rebirth of a myth – the new Beetle convertible

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A myth is reborn – the new Beetle Cabrio

VW: rebirth of a myth - the new Beetle convertible-myth

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This is what it could look like, the next generation of the Beetle Cabriolet.

Source: Volkswagen

VW: rebirth of a myth - the new Beetle convertible-myth

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The e-Bugster study shows the most important features, but the basic proportions are likely to change a little.

Source: Volkswagen

VW: rebirth of a myth - the new Beetle convertible-Audi Cabrio ideal convertible haters

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Because the concept car is a kind of Speedster version: flat, wide and just a two-seater.

Source: dpa-tmn / cw sir

VW: rebirth of a myth - the new Beetle convertible-beetle

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The Beetle Cabrio will probably not get the electric drive of the e-Bugster either. However, the 115 hp unit will be found in the Golf from 2013.

Source: dpa / da ss

VW: rebirth of a myth - the new Beetle convertible-Audi Cabrio ideal convertible haters

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And the open two-seater is not without a chance either. VW is considering offering it as a production model or as a retrofit solution.

Source: Volkswagen

E-Bugster is the name of the study that gives an outlook on the upcoming Beetle convertible. But VW can imagine more with the electrically powered e-Bugster and asked for the first exit.

S.Studies can serve different purposes: sometimes they are pure eye-catchers for decorating a trade fair stand, sometimes they are used to test the audience’s response before a decision is made as to whether a similar model will be built. And sometimes they are hardly a concealed view of a series model of the future.

This is the general interpretation of the e-Bugster that VW showed for the first time at the Detroit Motor Show in January: With its round shapes and familiar face, it seemed to give an idea of ​​what the upcoming Beetle convertible might look like.

Silently along the Pacific coast

Sure, the study was a bit flatter and stocky, a kind of Speedster version of the Beetle. But VW would correct that before the start of series production, it was thought. And the electric motor that drove the open study, well, you have to have something like that as a manufacturer if you want to be in trend.

But maybe VW has a little more plans with the e-Bugster after all. In any case, the car was now fetched from the factory garage and sent out onto the street for the first time. On the Pacific coast of California, “Welt Online” was allowed to glide silently along the coastal roads with the electric Beetle.

VW specifies a range of 180 kilometers

Not a bad ambience. Because in principle, the car with its 115 hp electric drive offers everything you need for a summer day in California: at 130 km / h it is faster than the police allow, in 10.8 seconds from 0 to 100 you even win some traffic light sprint. And a range of 180 kilometers is sufficient for a trip to the sea.

In principle at least. In practice, however, things look a little different. The e-Bugster pulls in well, and although the concept car was more of a craftsmanship, there is nothing that squeaks or rattles.

Unfortunately, only 30 km / h is allowed in the test

But unfortunately the prototype builders are afraid of the one-off and distrust the rims milled from solid. Therefore only Tempo 30 is allowed, so extremely leisurely cruising. But even that is enough to whet your appetite for an open beetle.

But the driving experience from the e-Bugster is not entirely transferable – for several reasons. On the one hand, instead of the electric motor, petrol and diesel from 105 to 200 hp will take over the drive in the production model – the "silent" issue would have been dealt with.

The Bugster could come as a kit

You will probably also ask the dealer in vain about the white sports seats and the high-tech equipment with a tablet PC instead of an on-board computer. And optically you will probably have to adjust a little: the windshield a little steeper and higher, the fenders a little narrower, instead of the paneling over the batteries a back seat and instead of the hardtop a fabric roof, this is what the Beetle production convertible will look like, which will be presented at the end of November.

But the e-Bugster is still more than a showpiece. Because the electric motor under the hood is exactly the one that will power a variant of the new Golf from next year. And even the idea of ​​the two-seater Speedster is not just a dream of the designer. If you interpret the voices from Wolfsburg correctly, then the construction is not without a chance, ex works or as an accessory kit.

The trip to test drive the e-Bugster was supported by Volkswagen. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at www.axelspringer.de/unabhaengigkeit.

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