Volkswagen e-scooter
German car maker Volkswagen has finally delivered its first two-wheeled machine, an electric scooter destined for ChinaLost amid the fanfare of new cars and scantily clad female forms at the Shanghai motor show was a compact scooter from Volkswagen, the first tangible sign the giant European car maker is moving into two-wheeled markets.
When Volkswagen bought a 20 per cent share of Suzuki in late 2009, the rumour mill went into overdrive, predicting Volkswagen motorcycles would begin spewing out of its Wolfsburg factories.
But the reality has seen the tie-up having benefitted Volkswagen's compact car know-how more than anything else in the last 18 months.
However a new electric scooter revealed at the Shanghai motor show in China suggests that Volkswagen is finally dipping a tentative toe into two-wheeled waters.
Long-term plans are unknown and Volkswagen executives have been unanimously tight-lipped (or flat out in denial) about the existence of a two-wheeled product plan, but this tiny wee concept aimed at the Chinese consumer market is the vehicular equivalent of blood spatter at the murder scene - irrefutable evidence.
The product is a very simple scooter weighing 20kg without batteries and powered by a 350 watt electric motor that provides the machine with a 48km/h (30mph) top speed. The range is claimed to be around 60km.
The battery system is a low tech nickel-metal-hydride system and not a lithium-based pack, which could suggest that Volkswagen is not yet keen to throw big dollars at a two-wheeled project.
The battery system can be removed from the scooter and charged inside the home or office. The electric scooter features plenty of high tech equipment, such as a security card locking system and digital screen with satellite navigation. Reports suggest the scooter will be peddled as a rental unit in China.
Many German car makers are eyeing off the Chinese electric scooter market because of its size - something like 20 million e-scooters were sold in 2010 and that number is predicted rise in 2011.
Another sign that Volkswagen is taking a softly-softly catchy monkey approach is the lack of any giant VW badges. "The E-Scooter isn't covered in VW badges, but you know it's a VW from the shape of the frame, the detailing of the head- and tail-light, and the premium quality of the product," said Simon Loasby, Volkswagen's director of design for China.
While this is a promising sign of the German automaker entering the two-wheeled market, don't expect to see a Volkswagen-badged Suzuki GSX-R600 any time soon.
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