Volkswagen has been in the news recently – mostly for lagging behind competitors in the transition to electric mobility and, partly as a result of that, for being in a difficult economic situation which might even include factory closings in Germany.
This may be the right time to remind us that VW has been at the forefront of e-mobility in the past. Thanks to insideevs website we can learn some interesting facts, such as:
- The ID.Buzz is not the first electric VW van – it was the VW T2 “Elektro Bus” from 1972 of which about 120 were produced.
- VW went for a solution that included a battery swap.
- The Elektro Bus featured recuperation.
- Even back then the motivation behind developing electric cars was to make mobility more sustainable.
Because battery technology in the 1970s could not compete with the established gasoline economy, production of the T2 electric ended in the early 1980s.
To dive a little deeper into the details of the project and EV history visit insideevs.
If you are thinking about converting an early VW T-model, you might even get some ideas how to do it…
