An Electric Sports Car Can Save Volkswagen’s Reputation

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Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Jeff Perez 

                               

                                            

Volkswagen’s dream of a diesel-filled U.S. market is dead. Done. Over. If your perception of diesel wasn’t already askew before the whole Dieselgate scandal, there’s likely no way you’ll ever buy into it now.

 

But that’s ok. Volkswagen needs to make some dramatic changes to its lineup to win back buyers. And we have an idea: an electric sports car. Hear us out—it’s an idea so crazy that it might actually work.

 

Getting Greener

 

Diesel might have been Volkswagen’s solution for a greener tomorrow, today, but that dream died along with a portion of its lineup. The next logical step, then, seems like electric.

Building on the relative success Audi has shown with its electric vehicles/concepts, Volkswagen could adopt a number of technologies from its own company. A full onslaught of electric vehicles would be a more viable solution for the future of the brand, but it needs to start with something…dramatic.

Eye-Catching, Earth-Loving

A sports car; a serious electric sports car. And we’re not just talking about a concept, either. Volkswagen needs to invest its remaining “fun” R&D into building one of the first electric sports cars on the market. More specifically, the first one here in the U.S.

It doesn’t need to be McLaren P1 or Porsche 918 rivaling performance. It needs to go head-up against cars like the Corvette and F-Type. Relatively affordable (in sports car talk), performance-focused, and the only car in its class doing away with the gas engine.

Where to Start?

There’s two places Volkswagen can start: XL Sport Concept and R8 e-tron. Though the XL Sport concept used a Ducati engine (which is awesome), the technology borrowed from the R8 e-tron and even the original XL1 could be the perfect marriage of efficiency and performance for the already likable sports coupe.

It might take a few years before a realistic version of the electric XL could be on the market, but it needs to be a priority for Volkswagen if it hopes to shift buyer perception.