“It looks like the show car.”
The hotly-anticipated Volkswagen electric hatch, the ID, will apparently be going from concept car to production model with minimal changes, if comments from the company’s design boss are any indication.
The ID hatch is due on sale in late 2019, and was first seen at the Paris motor show back in 2016. With an expected range of about 400km (base, with 600km available on higher trim levels), the VW ID will rival the existing Golf in terms of size, though its interior should be considerably larger, given the unique architecture that electric vehicles enjoy.
“The proportions, the design cues, the wheel size are the same as the concept. It looks like the show car. We couldn’t do the camera-system rear-view mirrors for legal reasons, nor the electric door handles due to cost. But other than that, it’s pretty much the same.” — Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design, Volkswagen AG
With the design signed off, several ID prototypes have already been built and are undergoing on-road testing. A 16-month window has been given to engineers to complete development. The first production examples, according to Autocar, will roll off the line in November 2019, with European sales expected to begin in earnest in 2020.
The ID hatch will lead the way for Volkswagen’s all-electric future, riding on an all-new Modular Electric platform (MEB) that will eventually be used to underpin other family members like the ID Crozz, ID Buzz, and ID Aero-e. The ID family will, if all goes according to plan, be the greatest speedbump in Tesla’s highway to success, with the sheer might of the Volkswagen Group making a 2025 sales target of 1-million EVs entirely capable.
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