VWNC reminisces its electric past
At the VW Bus Festival 2023 (23 to 25 June in Hanover), Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) will show a drivable VW T2 camper van with electric drive – and, thus, technically the predecessor of the ID. Buzz.
In 1970, Volkswagen founded a development department in Wolfsburg that designed the first electrically powered VW models. 1972 the company presented a prototype – a pick-up with an open load bed. Shortly afterwards, small-series production started, and the vehicle was offered a pick-up, a bus and a panel van. The city of Berlin tested the EVs and purchased an electric T2, produced in 1977. It was licensed to Berlin Municipal Transport Service on 14 April 1978.
At the time, the carmaker set up a battery exchange station in the German capital, where empty battery units were exchanged for full ones within five minutes. It worked because the battery was integrated under the load bed and could be pushed out. Alternatively, the lead-acid traction battery was charged by plugging it in via an interface in the back of the van – or by recuperation while driving. The battery’s energy content was 21.6 kWh, which gave the electric transporter a range of up to 85 kilometres.
The electric motor had a continuous output of 16 kW. It allowed a top speed of 75 kph with the 2.17-tonne T2. According to Volkswagen, the T2 Electric was “the nucleus that set off a development process that drove generations of engineers to try to create an electric VW bus for mass production. But for decades the suitable battery technology for this was lacking. Today things are different”.
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