Frankfurt 2011: VW Nils EV Go-Kart Video

VW Nils revealed at Frankfurt

There have been quite a few of these very small, go-kart-style urban commuter cars cropping up of late, but perhaps the Volkswagen Nils is the most promising.

The most promising because if – and it’s a very big if – commuters take to the idea of a grown-up version of a soap-box Kart with an engine for getting to work, the VW Nils will possibly offer the best combination of practicality, refinement and cost.

Yes, there’s the Audi Urban Concept to consider, but that will be more expensive (there’s a reason Audi makes VW 40% of its profits), so if commuters do actually find appeal in this route then the Nils is probably the front-runner.

But we can’t see it happening. What would you rather buy, and probably for similar money, an EV go-kart or a Peugeot 107? Which would you rather negotiate round Parliament Square with the wheels of a big red Routemaster two inches from your ear?

Not only that, but the Nils will do all of 40 miles (on a good day on a full charge before it needs plugging in), whilst the 107 will go..well, forever as long as there’s a petrol station.

Still, the Nils – developed by VW in conjunction with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Transport – could catch on as a new statement of green-ness for the chattering classes.

We’ll see.

(click thumbnail for full size version)

By Cars UK