With support from the German Government, Volkswagen has developed NILS – a Formula One –like single-seat electric commuter car which will star at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Measuring just 3.04-metres in length and standing only 1.2-metres tall, the NILS is laid-out like an F1 racer – engine at the rear, driver in the middle and with 17-inch alloy wheels outboard.
Power comes from a 25kW electric motor which can propel the NIL from zero to 100km/h in 11 seconds and a top speed of 130km/h. With a range between re-charges of 65 kilometres, the NILS has been designed as a zero emissions city commuter car (most city dwellers in Berlin and Munich travel less than 25 kilometres to work each day.
Weighing just 460kgs, using an aluminium spaceframe body, the NILS has direct (no power assistance) steering and drives like an up-scale go-kart – but the clever design includes a luggage compartment big enough for a small suitcase or briefcase.
Naturally safety technology is abundant and a touchscreen governs most functions.
“The goal of the NILS project is to research a technically concrete and economically feasible vehicle concept for micromobility which restructures individual transportation to make it more efficient and environmentally compatible based on electric drive technology,” explained Volkswagen’s Dr Ulrich Hackenburg.
