VW "Bulli" Microbus

dpeilow · Mar 1, 2011

Iconic VW Microbus, Reimagined as an EV | Autopia | Wired.com

I think the author is on here sometimes.

I take issue with the "The Bulli is glacially slow like the Microbus. The 3,200-pound vehicle trundles to 62 mph in 11.5 seconds. Propulsion, such as it is, comes from an 85 kilowatt [113 horsepower] motor that draws power from a 40-kilowatt-hour lithium ion pack."

Seems pretty biased. I'd like to have a go in whatever VW van he's got.

Fr23shjive · Mar 1, 2011

Read on the yahoo article that it has a range of 186 miles, very nice.

Tesla better be careful. Yeah, it might not go nearly as fast as the Model S but if it has decent power and 180+ mile range I would definitely buy one if the price is right.

VW unveils new model of microbus loved by hippies - Yahoo! News

doug · Mar 1, 2011

Using the iPad is an interesting approach.

qwk · Mar 1, 2011

Fr23shjive said:
Read on the yahoo article that it has a range of 186 miles, very nice.

Tesla better be careful. Yeah, it might not go nearly as fast as the Model S but if it has decent power and 180+ mile range I would definitely buy one if the price is right.

VW unveils new model of microbus loved by hippies - Yahoo! News

It's just a concept. I would be shocked if it made it to production, and even more shocked if it got 186 mpc.

Fr23shjive · Mar 1, 2011

qwk said:
It's just a concept. I would be shocked if it made it to production, and even more shocked if it got 186 mpc.

True, not a bad looking concept though.

vfx · Mar 2, 2011

A bit too angular for me. The Mini and Fiat 500 redux were more successful in keeping the soft yet aggressive look without going all Cadillac on the design.

dpeilow · Mar 3, 2011

Geneva’s Top 10 new cars

CarbonOne · Mar 3, 2011

vfx said:
A bit too angular for me. The Mini and Fiat 500 redux were more successful in keeping the soft yet aggressive look without going all Cadillac on the design.

x2 on that. Too many lines. IMO if they bring it back, they should mix retro + modern like Ford did with the mustang.

domenick · Mar 6, 2011

I wasn't going to comment on this but I find it hard to hold back since I find myself growling everytime I hear this thing referred to as a "bus". It's not. It's a 5 passenger car. If you took the big VW branding off and painted it with one color, it would resemble a Scion xB (1st gen) as much as anything else.

That's not to say I don't like it. I do. I like the form factor, the adequate battery pack and the general aesthetics. It's just not a bus.

jcstp · Mar 6, 2011

domenick said:
I wasn't going to comment on this but I find it hard to hold back since I find myself growling everytime I hear this thing referred to as a "bus". It's not. It's a 5 passenger car. If you took the big VW branding off it and painted it with one color, it would resemble a Scion xB (1st gen) as much as anything else.

That's not to say I don't like it. I do. I like the form factor, the adequate battery pack and the general aesthetics. It's just not a bus.

PaulM · Mar 12, 2011

I guess beauty is the eye of the beholder.... cause I think it looks good.

ggies07 · Apr 16, 2015

VW Bus to be re-released as an electric vehicle

I wasn't around during this time, so what say those of this generation? Would you buy an electric version?

VW Bus to be re-released as an electric vehicle | Minds

SwedishAdvocate · Apr 17, 2015

ggies07 said:
.../ so what say those of this generation? Would you buy an electric version [of this VW minibus]?

No.

I do not want an aerodynamic brick with crappy road handling.

I want an electric VW Sportswagon.

This is the new non-electric version of VW's Passat wagon currently on sale in Europe:

Image credit: VW

Image credit: VW

Image credit: VW

SwedishAdvocate · Apr 17, 2015

Image credit: VW

There currently isn’t really a way for me to get my hands on a 85 kWh Tesla. And at the moment I need that kind of range to earn a living. So instead I drive the previous version of the VW Passat wagon (above) with manual transmission that can be propelled by methane. In Sweden ~60% of all methane for road vehicles is produced locally from recycled organic waste from households, farms and food processing industries and such. In theory almost 70% of all traffic on Swedish roads could be propelled by methane from recycled organic waste if all that waste was indeed recycled. Unfortunately that’s not the case (And it’s probably a an even more distant prospect in the US…). This way though – even though I’m not driving an electric car – I at least get to give Saudi Arabia and their cohorts the finger...

And, and the importance of the following can not be stressed enough:

There is ABSOLUTELY NO FRACKING ANYWHERE IN SWEDEN. As far as I’m aware there’s no fracking in any Scandinavian country!!!

miimura · Apr 17, 2015

Is there a European on-sale date yet for the Passat GTE Estate? We just retired our 2001 Passat GLX Wagon for an e-Golf. I would have preferred the Passat GTE Estate, but in the States we get our Passats from the US factory and there will be no Wagon.

Now I will get the CHAdeMO mod for my RAV4 EV and make that our long(er) distance car - until Model 3.

SwedishAdvocate · Apr 17, 2015

miimura said:
Is there a European on-sale date yet for the Passat GTE Estate? /...

According to this article the UK left-hand drive version of the Passat GTE will be on sale in October this year.

Source:

Volkswagen Passat GTE first drive | The Telegraph Cars

Bulletproof · Apr 17, 2015

Same thoughts here. It's too close to the Mini versus Fiat 500 design fights. Still, 186 mpc would be nice. By the way, most general EVs sprint the 0 to 60 in 10 seconds or more. What's the hoopla?

anticitizen13.7 · Apr 19, 2015

domenick said:
I wasn't going to comment on this but I find it hard to hold back since I find myself growling everytime I hear this thing referred to as a "bus". It's not. It's a 5 passenger car. If you took the big VW branding off and painted it with one color, it would resemble a Scion xB (1st gen) as much as anything else.

That's not to say I don't like it. I do. I like the form factor, the adequate battery pack and the general aesthetics. It's just not a bus.

I agree that this is a weak effort from VW. A 5-door hatchback is NOT a substitute for the bus.

I suspect that Model X is going to be the used vehicle of choice for the counterculture circa 2030-2040.

AudubonB · Apr 19, 2015

SwedishAdvocate said:
According to this article the UK left-hand drive version of the Passat GTE will be on sale in October this year.

Source:

Volkswagen Passat GTE first drive | The Telegraph Cars

Now, that's going to be an extremely interesting one. Gotta stay tuned!........

gregincal · Apr 19, 2015

anticitizen13.7 said:
I agree that this is a weak effort from VW. A 5-door hatchback is NOT a substitute for the bus.

I suspect that Model X is going to be the used vehicle of choice for the counterculture circa 2030-2040.

I have no idea why the mods merged the ggies07 post into this thread, but not my reply. If you read the article posted by ggies07 it's clear they are NOT talking about the 4 year old Bulli concept, but some completely different electric camper. They just posted the video about the Bulli as an example of what VW has proposed previously.

VW "Bulli" Microbus

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