First fully-autonomous Volkswagen, too.
Sketches out of Wolfsburg has expressed Volkswagen’s debutant for the upcoming Geneva motor show. Taking the form of a low, sleek, long saloon, the I.D. Vizzion intends to push the limits of luxury for the traditionally mass-market brand, and also how far they can abuse the letter ‘Z’ to seem more cool and relevant.
The Vizzion will be the fourth I.D.-badged electric model that Volkswagen’s exploring, as part of their image-cleanup exercise coming out of the Dieselgate scandal. Measuring in at around 5110mm long, it’s about the same length as a standard-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which isn’t small by any measure, and significantly larger than any other saloon in the present VW range.
In fact, the sheer size of the Vizzion, if nothing else, reminds us of the last time Volkswagen made a significant move to push the brand upmarket: The Volkswagen Phaeton, which was acclaimed by critics worldwide for being excellently engineered and amazingly plush, but failed to win favour among its target market because it didn’t come with the flash nor the badge prestige of a proper premium limousine.
While the Phaeton sought motivation from a W12 petrol mill in its most potent form, the Vizzion will instead use a 111kWh battery pack that will supply a powertrain that supposedly packs 225kW. With two motors (one on each axle) and all-wheel drive, the Pha– sorry, the Vizzion will also be capable of cruising at speeds of up to 180km/h, and keep going for as long as 665km on a single charge.
The Vizzion concept also shows off something rather interesting for VW: No controls. The Vizzion concept appears to be totally bereft of any traditional controls and driving addenda, like a steering wheel and pedals and an instrumentation display. The four-seater car also has seats pivoted towards the middle of the car, further emphasising its autonomous driving capabilities.
Also, the press release made it clearer still by referencing quarters who cannot drive (like the very elderly, and children) further emphasised the Vizzion’s fully-autonomous driving capabilities. We’ll know more of the Vizzion’s capabilities when it debuts at the Geneva motor show next month.
The Volkswagen ID family of cars aims primarily to catapult the 80-year old company firmly into the future and establish VW as a prime player in the electric vehicle segment. The electric assault will begin first with the Volkswagen ID hatch, will is expected to hit the market in 2019 with a sticker price below $40,000 (undercutting the Tesla Model 3 by some margin).
Following the ID hatch, the ID Crozz (a crossover) will come online in 2020, followed by the ‘Microbus-reimagined’ ID Buzz in 2021. The ID Vizzion, while still a concept at this stage, may join the fray to address the posh, upmarket limousine segment (hopefully with greater success than the Phaeton). It may have its work cut out for it though, as Jaguar intends to move its XJ flagship into that territory with the next generation, too.
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