SYDNEY: The VW Camper a symbol of the 60’s is poised to make a comeback, this time as an electric van with battery power. The original VW Micro Bus, or CombiVan as it was sometimes known, had an anemic little air cooled boxer engine hidden away at the rear but modern cars aren’t built that way. Try as they might, Volkswagen engineers couldn’t stuff a gasoline engine into the front of the new Camper and keep any semblance of its original flat faced design cues.
According to Volkswagen chairman of the board Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser, the only way to keep the look of the original, which was penned 60 years ago, is to use an electric motor running on battery power. He told the press at last week’s New York Auto Show,
“If we want to do this on an attractive cost base, we are not able to put a rear engine into such a car. When we put such a vehicle on the base of the modular transverse kit (MQB), we can use it as a battery electric vehicle because the e-motor is much smaller than combustion engine and we can build it in another way. It’s easy to bring battery space into such a vehicle, because you can put them under the floor. We have these systems already.”
The MQB chassis is VW’s latest multi-purpose chassis that serves as the basis of Golf and Jetta models.
The company seems determined to maintain the style and look of the original. It started working on a new Camper back in 2011, when it showed the world its electric Bulli concept vehicle. Neusser went on to say, “If you look to the genetic things of the Bulli concept you have the need for a very small overhang. From the A-pillar, the space you have available is very, very limited.”
Neusser claims the company is working “tirelessly” on the project but there’s no word yet on when we might see the next Camper. “When we think this can bring us to a situation where this is feasible, then we will show it as a show car.”
