VW keeps trying to bring back enough of what made them famous (cute cars that were endearing) and add in hi-tech aspects to make sure they are at the edge of innovation.....I'm not sure that we'll see a pile of kids pile into this for a road trip to a Phish Concert...more likely this would be useful for trendy Urbanites heading out to IKEA.....
Volkswagen Bulli Concept Debuts at New York Auto Show
Anto Thermadam April 24, 2011
www.nitrobahn.com
Volkswagen’s new Bulli Concept for America made its U.S. debut at the 2011 New York Auto Show. The new compact six-seat multipurpose vehicle that is based on the MDS or “modular design system platform” was previously launched at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.
The zero-emissions vehicle is electrically powered using an electric motor that can generate a power output of 85 kW and a torque of 199 lb.-ft. The electric motor is supplied with energy from a lithium-ion battery with a maximum storage capacity of 40 kWh.
When it comes to performance, the new Bulli can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in about 11.5 seconds and with a top speed of 87 mph. The lithium-ion battery pack lets the Bulli Concept to a run a total of 186.4 miles on single charge.
Volkswagen had announced the availability of gas and diesel direct injection powertrains as alternative drives for the new Bulli Concept that was launched at Geneva Motor Show. But the German automaker has not made it clear whether the engine options will be there for the North American model.
The Volkswagen Bulli Concept that debuted at New York will also feature an infotainment system that’s solely controlled by an Apple iPad, the company added.
We are a society driven by technology...Cell Phones, GPS, Ipads, etc., etc. but we owe a great deal to the people who developed the items that lead others to create better and better technology....The first digital watches were very expensive ($300) and they did little more than tell the time.....now, they are throw-away cheap. Same with computers....not that I am old but in high school, we used a tele[type that was hitched up to a mainframe computer miles away....and it all ran on the computer language called BASIC....yeah, we actually had to learn the language of computers....let's see your average teenager do that these days... So here are a few pictures of " Old School" guys doing the techie thing back in the day....pretty interesting in light of what we have now. 
This isn't some ridiculous "city of the FUTURE!" concept art; this photo of an "elevator garage" was taken in 1936 Chicago by photographer John Gutmann, and here it is from another angle. I can picture dropping in a nickel to get our car back and then seeing it get stuck at the top like a bag of chips in a vending machine. 
It's easy for us to laugh, but in 1899 this must have looked like a terrifying vision of the future. Even if the guy was wearing a tie, bowler hat and dress shoes. Back in those days, if you were not the more finely dressed army, you were considered to have lost the war regardless of how much land you seized. That's inventor F.R. Simms, by the way, demonstrating his Simms Motor Scout armored quadricycle.
This last picture is not as "old school" as the others but I thought this looks funky....the Airplane looks like it is eating the car...it was how they did it "back in the day"
VW keeps trying to bring back enough of what made them famous (cute cars that were endearing) and add in hi-tech aspects to make sure they are at the edge of innovation.....
