I.D. hatch heads up VW’S electric future
VOLKSWAGEN is aiming to fight back against the likes of the Tesla Model 3 when it brings its I.D. range of pure-electric cars to market from the end of this decade. The process will start with a hatchback that promises to trump anything else in the class on space and practicality.
The production version of the I.D. concept that was shown at last year’s Paris Motor Show will make its debut in 2019, with deliveries due the following year.
Underpinning the hatchback – and the full range of I.D. products – will be VW’S new MEB platform. Auto Express understands that the architecture will be offered with a range of up to four battery capacities.
Assuming that the entry-level I.D. hatchback uses the smallest of the units – to fulfil VW’S public promise that the car will cost the same as a well specced diesel Golf – and an electric motor of around 90kw (120bhp), it should have a range of about 300 miles. A higher capacity, more expensive I.D. hatch could conceivably add up to 150 miles to that figure.
VW design boss Klaus Bischoff revealed to Auto Express in the autumn that the production version of the I.D. hatchback has now been signed off. As previewed by our exclusive images here, the final car is expected to grow a little from the concept, not least because that vehicle’s ultra-short bonnet would present problems with pedestrian impact protection rules.
Space
However, even if the final I.D. hatch is as long as the next VW Golf (also due in 2019), its electric powertrain and battery packaging should allow it to have a much longer wheelbase. This will help it to deliver interior space that’s on a par with the VW Passat’s, especially for rear-seat occupants.
Bischoff also revealed details on which concept cues would make it to production. The show car’s radical doors have been ditched, replaced with conventional openings, a regular B-pillar and normal handles. However, all I.D. hatchbacks will get the show car’s gloss black roof and tailgate as a ‘compulsory’ design feature, similar to the black bonnet seen on the BMW i3.
Bischoff told us: “I’ve been arguing for the black roof to be a signature. So far, I have it on the hatchback and the SUVS.”
Arguably the concept’s most radical feature – a steering wheel that slides into the dashboard – has also been dropped. But we’d still expect the interior of the I.D. to look sophisticated, with a small instrument panel and a floating central infotainment screen to help maintain an ‘airy’ feeling.
The car will also retain most of the concept’s autonomous tech, with advanced sensors positioned in the front bumper and around the number plate. And, despite the adoption of side mirrors, further cameras and sensors are fitted along its flanks.
VW could also use the car to introduce a version of the ‘augmented reality’ head-up display that it showcased on the I.D. concept. The system ‘projects’ navigation instructions on the windscreen in front of the driver, pointing directly into streets where it wants you to turn.
Soon after the I.D. hatchback’s launch, VW will follow the car up with two SUVS. These will be offered with both rear-wheel drive – like the hatchback – and the 4WD configuration showcased by the I.D. Crozz concept, which uses a twin-motor set-up with a larger unit at the rear and a smaller electric motor driving the front wheels. The extra energy required for this layout – which could have a total output in excess of 300bhp – means the cheapest four-wheeldrive I.D. SUV could actually have a slightly shorter range than its hatchback cousin.
The production I.D. Crozz SUV coupé will be one of the two new offerings, but Bischoff called it a “variant” of the more conventionally shaped SUV previewed here (below, right). We expect both to be in showrooms by the end of 2020.
VW boss Herbert Diess confirmed to Auto Express earlier this year that the other models in the initial I.D. line-up would be a saloon, another larger SUV and a microbus. But he admitted the firm is considering “more emotional” EVS for early in the next decade, including a sports coupé – in effect, a replacement for the recently discontinued Scirocco – as well as an all-electric Beetle.
■ I.D. hatchback previewed ■ Two SUVS set to follow “The I.D. will get a black roof and tailgate as a compulsory EV design feature”