Having made its debut as a coupé at the Detroit Auto Show in January, the Volkswagen E-Bugster is back, only this time sans roof. Unveiled at the Auto China motor show in Beijing, the new speedster gives the clearest indication yet of how the future Beetle Cabriolet will look (expected to make its debut in Los Angeles in November) - and also points towards future all-electric Volkswagen drivetrains.
Power for the E-Bugster is provided by a 115hp electric motor fed by a bank of lithium-ion batteries that are situated where you would normally expect to find the rear bench seat, making the E-Bugster strictly a two-seater affair. Performance is not startling, taking a pedestrian 10.8 seconds to hit 100km/h from standstill. However, with a projected range of 180 kilometres and the ability to charge the batteries from a domestic supply the E-Bugster does have appeal.
Riding on 20-inch alloy wheels the E-Bugster sports custom bumpers front and rear, a windscreen with 90mm chopped from its height and wheelarches that extend the width by 30mm in comparison to the standard Beetle. How much of these styling cues make it into the showroom-bound Beetle Cabriolet remains to be seen but we wouldn't rule out a limited-edition speedster model based on the concept emerging at some point.