As reported by Volkswagen
Wolfsburg / Hanover - Volkswagen has announced that it will launch its first production electric vehicles in 2013. Electric cars that are driven emissions-free will revolutionise mobility over the mid-term, especially in urban areas. However, Volkswagen is not just thinking of individual mobility here, but is also considering its possibilities as a vehicle in public transportation. That is why Volkswagen is now showing – in a world premiere at the Hanover Trade Show – just how a large-scale production taxi driven by an electric motor might look. The “Milano Taxi” concept car that has been created is a city MPV tailored to the needs of taxi drivers and their passengers in its many innovative details such as a swivel-sliding door that opens in a forward direction and customisable taxi touchscreens.
Design for a new automotive era
The two-tone paint of the concept car - green and black - is the Volkswagen brand’s tribute to the fashion metropolis of Milan. That is where taxis were once painted in precisely this colour combination. A beautiful tradition and an example of how this concept can be visually adapted to the specific taxi look of any metropolis on the globe. Until then, it must be said that the Milano Taxi is still purely a concept vehicle. However, its styling that bears similarities to the legendary Volkswagen Samba bus, its emissions-free drive system and the very tangible, practical benefits of a compact space wonder could very quickly make it a highly coveted vehicle in cities like Milan, Berlin, New York, Beijing, Cape Town, London, Moscow or Tokyo.
The exterior: "One door less is all the more for a taxi," is what Walter de Silva, Head of Design for the Volkswagen Group, decided, and this had a crucial impact on this vehicle’s technical and visual concept even before the first pen stroke was made. And in fact, De Silva is right. The safest way for passengers to enter and exit a taxi in city traffic is on the sidewalk side. And that is why the development crew sent the Milano Taxi on its way with just a single swivel-sliding door that opens far forward (!) on the passenger’s side. Thanks to the entirely new development of a mechanism with two-axis kinematics, this door opens wide to offer a broad entrance. The swivel-sliding door also extends well into the roof, so it also offers an enormous opening in terms of height. Apropos: The Milano Taxi is 1.60 metres tall, 3.73 metres long – or more accurately short, and 1.66 metres wide.
Wolfsburg / Hanover - Volkswagen has announced that it will launch its first production electric vehicles in 2013. Electric cars that are driven emissions-free will revolutionise mobility over the mid-term, especially in urban areas. However, Volkswagen is not just thinking of individual mobility here, but is also considering its possibilities as a vehicle in public transportation. That is why Volkswagen is now showing – in a world premiere at the Hanover Trade Show – just how a large-scale production taxi driven by an electric motor might look. The “Milano Taxi” concept car that has been created is a city MPV tailored to the needs of taxi drivers and their passengers in its many innovative details such as a swivel-sliding door that opens in a forward direction and customisable taxi touchscreens.
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| Photo: Volkswagen |
Design for a new automotive era
The two-tone paint of the concept car - green and black - is the Volkswagen brand’s tribute to the fashion metropolis of Milan. That is where taxis were once painted in precisely this colour combination. A beautiful tradition and an example of how this concept can be visually adapted to the specific taxi look of any metropolis on the globe. Until then, it must be said that the Milano Taxi is still purely a concept vehicle. However, its styling that bears similarities to the legendary Volkswagen Samba bus, its emissions-free drive system and the very tangible, practical benefits of a compact space wonder could very quickly make it a highly coveted vehicle in cities like Milan, Berlin, New York, Beijing, Cape Town, London, Moscow or Tokyo.
The exterior: "One door less is all the more for a taxi," is what Walter de Silva, Head of Design for the Volkswagen Group, decided, and this had a crucial impact on this vehicle’s technical and visual concept even before the first pen stroke was made. And in fact, De Silva is right. The safest way for passengers to enter and exit a taxi in city traffic is on the sidewalk side. And that is why the development crew sent the Milano Taxi on its way with just a single swivel-sliding door that opens far forward (!) on the passenger’s side. Thanks to the entirely new development of a mechanism with two-axis kinematics, this door opens wide to offer a broad entrance. The swivel-sliding door also extends well into the roof, so it also offers an enormous opening in terms of height. Apropos: The Milano Taxi is 1.60 metres tall, 3.73 metres long – or more accurately short, and 1.66 metres wide.
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| Photo: Volkswagen |