SEAT at Geneva: SEAT IBE Concept

The SEAT IBE Concept - a city-car size electric coupe

Car shows are always about concepts. From the wild and wacky to the cars that are obviously production-ready in all but name. The SEAT IBE is neither of these. It’s a very convincing exercise in what can be done – possibly – with a small urban electric car.

With no perspective the SEAT IBE looks like a mid-sized coupe, although SEAT think of it as a shooting brake. In fact it’s a City Car size and designed to be a stylish electric urban runaround. It has an electric motor good for 102bhp and a bank of battteries (18kWh) out back. SEAT say it will nip around town very well, with 30mph coming up in 3.4 seconds and 60mph in 9.4 seconds.

Will the SEAT IBE make it in to production? Precious little chance. But it could provide the basis for a future SEAT range. It looks as if the underpinnings are basically the same as the VW Up! and they could be used by SEAT to produce a convincing and stylish electric city car.

But the SEAT IBE is not just about posing at Geneva or even pointing the way to future models, it’s about waving at the Spanish Government and saying ‘Hey, look what we can do’. With the help of EU money the Spanish Government is pushing electrification in urband areas hard, and there’s money to be had and money to be made from electric cars.

Still, a pitch or not, the SEAT IBE looks more than a little interesting.

By Cars UK