Forget the brilliant but probably outrageously expensive (and so far only moderately produced) XL1 for a second. That's using a bit of diesel anyway! The greenest vehicle from Volkswagen doesn't need fossil fuel. Meet the electric up! city car, or e-up! to its friends.

VW wants to "dominate" the US market, using its against-the-odds current strong sales and profits (relatively) to go counter-cyclical and triple US sales. An American-made mid-size sedan is at the center of those plans.

What we thought was an electric minivan is in fact a quiet little "3+1" city car. What we believed to be an 82-horsepower zero emissions concept was just that. Volkswagen says it's the Beetle of the future; we're thinking Polo.

Don't look now, but the all-electric VW E-Up, the silent-but-deadly concept version of the forthcoming VW Up, will be unveiled tomorrow in Frankfurt. It'll get an 82HP e-motor with 80 miles of range and a 30 minute partial charge time.