Volkswagen Milano Taxi Concept (2010)

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 Volkswagen 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 VW 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 Volkswagen 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 Volkswagen Milano Taxi is 1.60 metres tall, 3.73 metres long - or more accurately short, and 1.66 metres wide.

Similar in style to the Volkswagen Samba Bus of the 1950s, the outer roof areas are designed to be transparent (as part of the doors in front and at the right rear). This unmistakable design characteristic of the brand - together with a panoramic glass roof - creates a bright and friendly interior ambiance. In addition, passengers aboard the taxi will appreciate the added viewing perspective of the city's architecture. Also designed in a translucent material is the taxi sign mounted over the glass roof; the taxi lettering lights green when the taxi is available and red when it is not, and it is unlit whenever the car and driver are taking a break.

Form and function on the Volkswagen Milano Taxi Concept - designed by Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design for the Volkswagen Brand, and his team - engage in an interplay that benefits the vehicle. That is because every detail follows the goal of realising a taxi concept that is as appealing as it is practical in everyday use. For example, the lateral surfaces and the rear of the car body rise steeply upward; not only is this stylistic characteristic reminiscent of the first generation of VW buses; it also creates even more space in the interior.

The concept car now being presented in Hanover also opens a window to the future, since the genes of a future Volkswagen "design DNA" are already recognisable in the Milano Taxi. Consider the front end: It is no coincidence that it displays a prominent friendly and self-assured "face" with stylistic hints of Volkswagen icons such as the Beetle and the Samba bus. These specific genes also include the front bonnet that is drawn down low as well as the "elimination" of the classic radiator grille. An entirely new element is the transparent crossbar that joins the two headlights.

Another prime example of the reversal of the "form follows function" design principle is the interface for charging the batteries: The connector is located beneath the VW logo that swivels upward on the "E-motor bonnet". Meanwhile, styled in a black, transparent look, like the roof, is the laterally swinging rear door with its 60:40 split.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Volkswagen
• Milano
• Taxi
• Concept
• 2010
• moscow
• new
• york
• brand
• concept
• plan

[trujilloking]

damn nice



[locoarts92]

que porqueria!!!!!



[qtsil60]

DOVREBBERO FARE LE SHARING CAR, NON I TAXI!

[crymine]

piccolo particolare:il regolamento taxi di milano prevede che l'auto debba avere almeno 5 posti compreso quello del conducente!qui il posto anteriore del passeggero è sostituito dal porabagagli dunque i posti si riducono a 4....ma come si fa a sviluppare un progetto senza prima studiare le normative!!!

[tony3076]

excelent!!!! think green, for a better world.

[dunemoonbeam]

wayy better than the tranist connect for a minivan taxi, but still feels cheap on the inside despite vw badge