Volkswagen to unveil one-seat electric car

Volkswagen will unveil a one-seat experimental car with an electric powertrain in September as the carmaker works to cut emissions and develop future driving concepts.

The concept vehicle will be designed for limited journeys, VW spokeswoman Ruth Holling said Monday, confirming remarks by VW research chief Juergen Leohold to the Financial Times. The car will be presented Sept. 8 in Berlin.

Leohold declined to comment to the paper on the car's range or top speed ahead of its unveiling. He said the one-seater would be "even better" than the XL 1 Super Efficient vehicle, a diesel-electric plug-in hybrid unveiled in January, which gets 261 mpg.

VW is aiming for battery-powered vehicles to account for 3 percent of sales by 2018, the year it's aiming to sell more than 10 million cars, sport-utility vehicles and vans, CEO Martin Winterkorn has said.

VW plans to bring electric versions of its Golf hatchback and the new Up city car to market by 2013.

By David Jolley- Automotive News