VW E-Bugster electric concept car

The Koreans starred, the Japanese mounted a comeback, and One Ford hit the headlines with an extended family of Focus-based newcomers that it is certain to make a big hit in Australia. But it was one car and the commitment of its company chief that made the most impact as America fought back on the opening day of the 2011 North American International Motor Show.

The car follows the path of its 2005 Detroit show special, the Ragster. Like the forgotten Ragster, the Volkswagen E-Bugster Concept is a redesign of the Beetle, though the newer exercise is based on the latest Bug.

E-Bugster - which has little chance of seeing a production line - is a design theme atop Volkswagen’s Blue-e-motion electric drivetrain that is planned this year to underpin a variant of the Golf.

Volkswagen says the E-Bugster - slash Golf-e - uses an electric motor up front and a lithium-ion battery beneath the rear chassis. It claims a 160km range and the option of a quick charge that’ll get 80 per cent of it fired up within 30 minutes.

The electric motor produces 85kW and about 270Nm of torque. That’s the inside. The outside is the new, new Beetle - in Australia in November this year - with 75mm chopped from the roof pillars and set on 20-inch wheels.

There’s also slight changes to the nose and tail and LED daytime running lights. Only extra instruments - including the deletion of the tachometer and a energy-consumption meter in its place - identify the interior.

The E-Bugster Concept is purely a showcase for the drivetrain - much as the Bulli was to present a new-age Kombi. Bulli is still a strong chance for production though will initially be fitted with the Up/Polo petrol and diesel drivetrain options. An electric Bulli - as shown at last year’s Geneva motor show - will come later.

The same timeline is expected of the E-Bugster though the chances of it making it to showroom with a chopped roof are - zero.