VW PLUGS INTO THE ‘BEV’ MARKET
THE Volkswagen ID.3 electric car debuted at this October’s Frankfurt Motor Show, and while I rather liked the overall look of it, I still couldn’t get my head around the wheels, which reminded me of one of those old ashtrays in which you push a plunger and the panels retreat to allow you tip a cigarette.
I will, no doubt, get used to them, because the ID.3 is on its way, and appeared here this week at a showcase event for journalists, dealers and the 400odd pre-bookers who have put down a grand each to be the first to own one when they arrive next summer. Those first-edition models will come with a 58kWh battery that offers a range of 420km. Later in the year, this model will be joined by a 45kWh battery (330km range) and a whopping 77kWh version (550km range). Overnight charging time on a home wallbox for the midsize version will be around eight and a half hours and much faster on Ionity superchargers at Circle K service stations for a fee of €8.
The car is deceptive, insofar as it looks about the same size as a Golf but offers interior space more on a par with the Passat. It will come in three trim levels – 1st, 1st Plus and 1st Max – with prices ranging from €40,000 to €50,000. Like all carmakers, Volkswagen is ramping up production of BEVs, or battery electric vehicles. A Tiguanesque SUV in on the cards, as is a retroinspired MPV (remember those?). At this week’s Los Angeles Motor Show, VW also revealed what looks like an electric Passat in the form of the ID.Space Vizzion Concept, adding yet further to the increasing choice of BEVs.
Between January and October, 3,221 fully electric cars were sold here, and I would be very surprised if we don’t see at least double that number in 2020. Meanwhile the ESB’s ecars public network division finally started charging, in the other sense of the word, last Monday!