Volkswagen is preparing a slightly larger version of its E-Up! concept, which debuted last week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, for the U.S. market.

The tiny 3+1 seater is roughly the size of a SMART fortwo or Toyota iQ. It has a peak output of 60 kw with 210 Nm of torque (80-hp and 155 ft-lbs of torque). With a curb weight of 1,085 (2,392 lbs) the E-Up! Concept can hit 62 mph in 11.3 seconds and drive a total distance of 130 km thanks to stored energy in a lithium-ion battery pack.

The E-Up! Concept is based on VW’s new mini-car platform that underpin a whole new line of small city cars. With zero-emissions and a small size, VW boldly refers to this car as the Beetle of the 21st Century.

Volkswagen has ambitious plans to become the world’s largest automaker and knows it needs to crack the U.S. marketplace to do so. That being said, the E-Up! is just too small for U.S. customers. So to solve that problem, VW is reportedly looking at selling a slightly larger (20-inches longer) version of the electric car in the U.S.

With the gasoline-powered Up! cars not scheduled for sale in Europe until 2011 and the electric version planned for 2013, look for a U.S. debut some time after that.

GALLERY: VW E-Up! Concept

[Source: Automotive News via Autoblog]

Debuting alongside the 170mpg L1 concept car at the Frankfurt Auto Show was the zero-emissions E-Up! concept. As the name suggests, this is a pure electric vehicle and it is based on a chassis that will form the basis of a new line of VW city cars starting in 2013.

As a 3+1 seater the E-Up! is about the size of a SMART fortwo or Toyota iQ. It has a peak output of 60 kw with 210 Nm of torque (80-hp and 155 ft-lbs of torque). With a curb weight of 1,085 (2,392 lbs) the E-Up! Concept can hit 62 mph in 11.3 seconds and drive a total distance of 130 km thanks to stored energy in a lithium-ion battery pack.

Volkswagen is boldly declaring the car is the Beetle of the 21st Century and says this electric Up! model will go on sale in 2013.

GALLERY: VW E-Up! Concept