VW fully reveals ID3 electric hatchback
The launch of the Volkswagen ID3 at the Frankfurt Motor Show is no ordinary launch.
As far as Volkswagen itself is concerned, it is potentially the third-most important car in the history of the company, following on from the original Beetle and the first-generation Golf.
It could be that epochal, a major turning point for a company that grew from the literal ashes of war to dominate the global car industry.
It is also, of course, a massive multi-billion euro mea culpa for the diesel scandal, the terrible admission that VW was forced to admit that it had sold the world a pup when it came to how clean its diesel engines were, and that they were in fact pumping out vast amounts of potentially lethal gases. Arguably, it’s done more to propel the world towards electric power for cars than anything short of legislation.
The ID3 is both of those things, and yet it’s also now a car. A family-sized hatchback, with a conspicuously spacious interior, and a one-charge range of 550km. That is a truly impressive range, but it will be available only if you buy the most expensive version of the ID3, the one with a 77kWh battery.
The mid-spec version uses a 58kWh battery, and can go for around 420km on a charge, which is similar to rivals such as the Kia eNiro and Nissan Leaf, but with a slightly smaller battery, underscoring the efficiencies of VW’s new MEB electric car platform.
A basic model, which will be priced at less than €30,000 in Europe, will have a 45kWh battery and a still-reasonable range of 330km. That sub-€30,000 price will be about right for Ireland, once you take into account the €5,000 VRT rebate and the €5,000 SEAI grant (assuming that both are retained in the October budget).
Supply will be very limited in 2020, though. For many Irish buyers, this is likely to be a 2021 model, really.
The ID3 has been designed around fast-charging, and assuming you can find a charging point capable of outputting 100kW at a time, you can charge your ID3 for up to 290km of range in 30-minutes.
Sadly for Irish customers, the majority of our fast-charging network (when it works at all) is limited to 50kW for the moment.
The electric motor outputs 204hp, and has 310Nm of torque. The only performance figure that VW is quoting so far is the top speed: 160km/h.
According to VW’s Head of Sales and Marketing Jurgen Stackmann, the ID3 is already a major success. Although VW had previously only shown the car in striking rainbow camouflage, it has garnered something like 30,000 pre-sales from customers across Europe. “This is a huge success – and shows that the ID.3 is coming at the right time. Most pre-bookers come from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Great Britain,” said Stackmann.
That’s 30,000 orders for a car that won’t actually start to filter onto dealer forecourts until next year.
The ID3 will have to sustain that success, though, if it is to repay the many billions of euro VW has sunk into its development. The MEB platform that underpins it will spread out to several other VW models, from SUVs to a luxury saloon to a wild beach-buggy recreation. VW has also offered the MEB platform under licence to other car makers, and Ford is expected to take up that offer. The next-generation Focus could, potentially, be based around the MEB.
Not surprisingly, VW is using the ID3’s launch to push back against doubts expressed in recent months over just how clean electric cars really are.
“With a share of 14 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, the transport sector is particularly in question here – and with it the automotive industry. Volkswagen Group is committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement, which provides for a climate-neutral society by 2050. From today’s perspective, the best and most efficient way to clean, CO2-neutral mobility is e-mobility,” said a VW spokesperson. VW has also vowed to make production of the ID3 both sustainable and CO2-neutral.
“With the ID3, Volkswagen is heading towards the future,” said Klaus Bischoff, VW’s Head of Design. “The natural style and absolutely intuitive driver experience demonstrate a new, electric way of thinking.”
It looks very similar to the original ID concept hatchback — clean, simple lines and a sense of being a Golf-sized car without actually looking much like a Golf (a distinction VW is keen to keep — the launch of the eighth generation Golf has been delayed to give the ID3 its motor show moment in the sun).
The cabin is strikingly minimal — a big central display, a smaller digital instrument pack behind the wheel, and that’s it. The Tesla-style all-screen dash has come to the mainstream market.
The gear selector is, BMW i3-style, up on the side of the instrument panel, freeing up storage space in the centre console.
Only the electric windows and hazard warning lights are still operated using tactile switches, and VW expects users to make broad use of the car’s voice control systems.
The fact that the battery pack is under the floor, and that the single electric motor is under the boot (yes, the ID is, Beetle-style, both rear-engined and rear-wheel drive!) means that the cabin is hugely spacious. VW claims Passat-style interior space in a Golf-sized package.
As well as this striking new electric car, VW has also revealed a new logo, with which to help market itself.
Don’t worry — it’s still basically the same superimposed V and W in a circle (no return to the original Wolfsburg city crest badge, sadly) but it does away with the 3D-style blue-and-chrome badge used recently.
Instead, it’s a slimmed-down, flattened badge, much more in keeping with the original logo from the 1950s. “The brand design and the logo aim for high flexibility and are intended for digital applications,” said VW.
“The new brand design marks the start of the new era for Volkswagen,” added Jürgen Stackmann. “By formulating new content and with new products, the brand is undergoing a fundamental transformation towards a future with a neutral emission balance for everyone. Now is the right time to make the new attitude of our brand visible to the outside world.”