Tesla Model 3 sets the EV bar

Volkswagen has been direct about what company it thinks will be the main rival for its first builtfrom-the-groundup electric car, codenamed I.D. The Tesla Model 3 has been the focus of VW’s comparisons to other electric competitors since its EV announcement in 2016.

VW chief strategist Thomas Sedran said in mid-July at an automobile forum in Germany that VW’s goal was to price the car about US $7,000-$8,000 below the Model 3, reports Elektrek, an alternative-vehicle webmagazine, placing it in the US $28,000-$30,000 range. Volkswagen said in announcing the vehicle last year that it would beat the Model 3’s driving range. Tesla is moving down-market with the US $35,000-base-price Model 3, said VW CEO Herbert Diess, “It’s our ambition… to stop them there.” technologies on a 45-kilometre stretch of the country’s autobahn highway system.

The drive begins and ends at Munich airport and includes an Audi expert on board as the vehicle negotiates the route itself at speeds up to 130 km/h.

“It accelerates, brakes and changes lanes predictably and smoothly while cooperating with other road users,” a press release stated.

The automaker’s new A8 flagship sedan was developed for highly automated driving; its Audi AI Traffic Jam Pilot allows the driver to hand over the driving task to the car on freeways in slow-moving traffic up to 60 km/h).