back to article VW to speed up rollout of cut-price EV

German car maker Volkswagen is to accelerate development of its two-seat electric city car, it has been claimed. Volkswagen up! VW's up!: low-cabon ICE first, 'leccy later Based on a modified version of the VW up! chassis, the new micro-car is tipped to be called the Chico and will initially feature a selection of high- …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    140mpg!

    All I can say is WOW! let's save the planet, I want mine now! Just gotta persuade all those Americans, mind you, with their roads, they could double the capacity ;)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Going no where :-S

    I've still not figured out how i'm going to get an extension lead half way round the block to plug the thing in.

  3. Matt Bucknall

    Wheels

    Why is it that designers always feel the need to give electric or other 'eco' cars such crappy looking wheels?

  4. James Pickett (Jp)
    Go

    Not Convinced it'll come out for £6K but

    I quite like it!

    Makes the smart car look very dated and uneconomical and the Polo Bluemotion look incredibly overpriced!

  5. Ralph B
    Thumb Down

    Smart Move

    Yeah, I bet VW want a slice of the huge profits Merc makes with their Smart operation.

    Oh, hang on ...

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Last two pictures?

    God that's ugly, must be the Cock Up!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    re: Wheels

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Looks like a sequence of Daihatsu/Toyota rip-offs to me (Aygo, Materia, etc) and they actually do not look that bad in real life. They do not drive bad either.

  8. this

    Full Marx

    'Chico' eh? I think I'l wait for Harpo and Groucho (definitely not Zeppo though)

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Wheels...

    Contain the direct drive motors, used for drive and breaking.

    this means no transmission losses and upto 4 per car!

    Serach for the 'PML QED Mini' now known as Hi-Pa drive.

  10. Seán

    @ac

    The wheels do not contain the direct drive motors.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RE: Not Convinced it'll come out for £6K but

    Considering that VW has built the Citi Chico (a low-cost Golf I derivative) and later successors in Africa for the last 15+ years and the basic model goes for around the 6K price (converted), it is not too far-fetched. :-)

  12. Wyrmhole
    Alert

    Strange creature?!

    What IS that thing driving the car in the 2nd pic on the first page?

  13. James Pickett (Jp)
    Happy

    @AC

    you may be right AC (and I hope you are!) - but whenever I've heard these claims there's always a few more £K on there by the time they reach the UK market :-)

    That said, I'd still be tempted . . .

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Direct drive motors in wheels.

    If you put the motors there then you have more unsprung mass.

    For those who don't know the consequences, Google "unsprung mass".

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