Volkswagen London black cab concept . . . with its single, rear door on the wrong side!

Can someone please tell Volkswagen they drive on the left-hand side of the road in England - not the right, as they do in Germany!

Keen to show off various styling elements of the upcoming Up once again prior to a planned unveiling in production form at next year's Frankfurt auto show, the German car maker has created an homage to the traditional London black cab with this new concept.

Style wise, it’s bang on the money. All dapper, with an authentic black paint scheme, silver Union Jack on the roof and the City of London’s coat of arms resplendent on either side of the vehicle as well as on the dashboard. Problem is the new three seater, like the Berlin, Milan and Shanghai taxi concepts it wheeled out earlier this year, has only one rear door – and it is on the right!

That’s all and good in countries where they drive on the right – as in Germany. But in England, it means the rear seat occupants would be forced the alight directly into the traffic rather than the pavement side. Not exactly a safe solution . . .

To make things even more complicated, Volkswagen sites the driver of its new London Taxi concept on the left in a country where the infrastructure is all set up for a driver on the right, which by way of experience makes it notoriously difficult at toll booths, in parking stations and during overtaking.

Message to Volkswagen . . .

Ignoring the obvious downside of its left-hand drive conceived layout, the new London Taxi is highly compact – more compact, in fact, than Volkswagen current entry level Fox at 146.9 inches (3730mm) in length, 65.4 inches (1660mm) in width and 63.0 inches (1600mm) in height.

Inside, there is accommodation in the rear for two adults, with the space next to the driver liberated of the passenger seat to create added luggage and stowage space.

The new Volkswagen is propelled by a 112bhp electric motor fed energy by a 45kWh lithium ion battery.

Official claims put the top speed at 75mph (120km/h) and the range at 186 miles (300km). A compartment behind the Volkswagen badge at the front is used to stow a cable for plug in capability; an 80 per cent charge is said to be possible in little over an hour using a high voltage system.

Full gallery of images after the jump . . .