The VW Microbus is Rumored to Return as an EV

Details about the second vehicle in Volkswagen’s upcoming fleet of battery electric vehicles are slowly taking shape, and it looks like it will be a seven-passenger van based on the company’s historic microbus.

The second electric vehicle—call it the Electric Type 2, for simplicity’s sake—will share the MEB platform that underpins VW’s ID concept. That concept, which premiered at the Paris Auto Show, is the first car confirmed for the MEB platform.

Like the ID, the Electric Type 2, will power the rear wheels from an engine placed between those same wheels. Energy will come from flat batteries housed under the body.

The Electric Type 2, though, will be longer and wider than the ID to fit its seven passengers, and thus will be able to store more batteries. According to a report from Autocar, it will have a range of up to 500 km (310 miles).

SEE ALSO: Don’t Expect to See this Volkswagen Brand in the US Anytime Soon

Despite being bigger than the ID, the new microbus is rumored to be more than 15 inches smaller (from the outside) than the current Multivan. At 4,900 mm (193 inches), it’s only about 4 inches longer than the current Passat.

That jives with what VW has been saying about the MEB platform. Thanks to its layout—rear-engine with flat batteries—there’s more room inside for passengers, much like the original, air cooled VWs.

Just what it will look like remains to be seen, but Autocar reports that it will feature many microbus-like cues. That’s to say that it will have a vertical windshield, a bluff front, a straight back, and a curbside sliding door. It will also take cues from the Budd-e Concept (seen above).

The Electric Type 2 would be the second of five EVs that VW has promised as the initial vehicles in its electric onslaught. As a result, it would be endowed with all of the companies latest infotainment and autonomous driving functions.

This article originally appeared on VWVortex.com

[Source: Autocar]