VW unveils eT! electric Transporter concept

Volkswagen seems to have become obsessed with exclamation marks. First came the up! hatchback and now it’s taken the covers off the battery-powered eT! concept vehicle; its vision of what the Transporter of the future may resemble.

Developed in conjunction with Deutsche Post AG (the German Post Office) it’s powered by an all-electric drivetrain featuring a motor for each wheel hub. Designed to make the working lives of mail delivery and courier drivers safer and easier the passenger side has an electric, two-stage sliding side door. There’s no passenger seat as such, replaced by a ‘standing’ seat to enable the driver to control the eT! remotely using a ‘drive stick‘ — a type of joystick — without having to get back behind the wheel.

Other innovations include the ability to drive it semi-automatically by voice command. It can follow the driver from house to house (Follow me), or can be called on command (Come to me); both without the need for anyone to actually be on board. It can be adapted to cope with any conceivable type of business usage and following its debut at VW’s Design Centre of Potsdam will be integrated into a driving test study and its potential analysed further.

“The eT! research vehicle unifies a whole gamut of innovative functions, which will gain in future importance, specifically for logistics businesses,” said Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, spokesperson for the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

“In particular, the possibility of driving the car semi-automatically, and electrically, in downtown areas unifies economical and environmental aspects more systematically than ever. As a vision of the future, the eT! Is showcasing what is the maximum feasible technology for electric vehicles in the commercial market today with a special design that systematically addresses future customer needs.”