Electric bug? New VW Beetle electric car makes surprise appearance

Volkswagen’s collaboration with an upcoming animated family film has produced a surprising byproduct - there could be a new electric VW Beetle on the way.

Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir is likely to be known mostly to children, their parents and fans of animation, but the series has become popular enough to spawn a feature film, which is set to feature a few members of the Volkswagen ID electric car family.

While most of the models to be used already exist, one was a surprise - Volkswagen has designed a VW Beetle in the style of its electric ID brand for one of the eponymous characters - Ladybug - to drive in the film.

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The only official word from Volkswagen on the Beetle specifically is that it’s a “concept car electric Beetle”, but the brand also points out that other characters will drive its ID.4, ID.Buzz, and even the brand’s ID.Vizzion concept car.

In a further sign that VW could be considering a real electric Beetle, it built a physical version of the car for display at the film’s premiere in Paris.

Shown on video by YouTube account Paris Videostars, the car reflects very closely its animated counterpart, meaning it doesn’t quite look production-ready.

The Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir feature film is set to feature a few members of the Volkswagen ID electric car family. (Image: Paris Videostars)

Volkswagen’s Chief Marketing Officer Nelly Kennedy hopes that the film featuring the brand’s vehicles will create a shift for the brand’s image, and make its electric cars more emotionally likeable.

“This collaboration will strongly support our efforts to emotionalize the brand and our ID family even more. It offers Volkswagen the opportunity to introduce the ID. family in a very likeable way to a broad family audience.”

The film’s director Jérémy Zag more simply said the use of electric vehicles for the characters in the film works creatively as a reflection of the “new generation” and its awareness of environmental change.

VW could be considering a real electric Beetle. (Image: Paris Videostars)

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A physical version of the electric Beetle was on display at the film’s premiere in Paris. (Image: Paris Videostars)

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“Ladybug and Cat Noir represent the new generation, and the vehicles in the film embody that modernity. For me, it is crucial to convey an essential message: taking care of our environment to live in a better world tomorrow.”

The Volkswagen Beetle has been Volkswagen’s most long-running model, having been through newer iterations after its first run ended. The last version of the Beetle that was on sale was its third-gen Beetle that ended production in 2019.

The last-gen Beetle also spawned a prototype concept called the e-Bugster, an electric Beetle that never made production.