Volkswagen will launch an SUV reworking of the ID 3 electric hatch and two sub-£20,000 entry-level models as part of ten new EVs that it will launch by 2026.
The new model would sit underneath the Volkswagen ID 4 in the brand’s line-up of electric SUVs, filling a big gap in the German firm’s ID-badged electric range.
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Volkswagen has been accelerating the development of electric cars that use the VW Group’s bespoke electric MEB platform, and CEO Thomas Schäfer has claimed that the ten new models that will launch in the next four years will give the brand the ‘broadest’ electric range in the industry.
The Volkswagen ID 3 launched in 2020 as the firm’s first bespoke electric car, and Schäfer told our sister brand Autocar that the firm is “working hard to develop an additional compact SUV based on the ID 3 so that we can also launch a Volkswagen product in this fast-growing vehicle segment”.
The new ID 3 SUV would be slightly bigger and higher-riding than the hatch version, but will likely feature similar powertrain specs. There's no word yet on what the new model be called, given that ID 4 is already taken. The ID 3 SUV? ID 3.5?
Schäfer also confirmed to Autocar that Volkswagen was bringing forward the introduction of an updated version of the ID 3 hatch itself to next year. He said that updated version would feature “a significant and noticeable leap forward in terms of quality, materials and system stability”, based on criticisms of the existing version’s software and interior trim.
The next new electric Volkswagen to launch is set to be a production version of the ID Aero saloon.
The VW Group is currently working on a cut-down version of the MEB platform that will be used for a range of entry-level models from Volkswagen, Cupra and Skoda. These will all have a target starting price of less than £20,000.
Volkswagen has already confirmed plans for one model using that platform, but Schäfer said that it is working on two: a small car and a crossover. These will be similar in size to the petrol-engined Volkswagen Polo and T-Cross, and would likely take on the ID 1 and ID 2 names.
Volkswagen is also working on a new electric platform, called SSP, that will be introduced sometime after 2026 and will be used for the bulk of the VW Group’s electric models.
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