The Volkswagen Group is putting all its might behind developing a new entry-level electric car, according to a new report. Its upcoming mass-market EV, speculated to be the ID.1, could be the spiritual successor to the VW e-Up city car sold in Europe.
Affordability would be the new EV’s main appeal. The German carmaker will aim to rationalize costs with platform sharing – the entry-level hatchback and its potential cousins from Cupra and Skoda might ride on bespoke architecture.
Platform details haven’t surfaced yet, but it will be different from MEB Entry, which is set to underpin the production version of the VW ID. 2all concept, a sub €25,000 ($27,200) electric hatchback that the brand previewed early this year.
The VW ID.2 will share its platform with the Cupra Raval and Skoda’s small SUV – all of which is slated to enter production in 2025 onwards in Spain, at SEAT’s Martorell plant near Barcelona.
VW’s new model, whose name is yet to be finalized, is likely to be positioned below the ID. 2all concept. The mass market EV could start at under £17,000 ($22,000), according to Autocar.
Volkswagen Group’s chief financial officer Arno Antlitz, referring to the ID 2all’s target price, said that the company was confident of achieving lower prices thanks to developments in more affordable battery technologies and cheaper production methods.
He also mentioned that the production version of the ID .2all concept will carry unified battery cells from the brand’s new PowerCo plant in Spain. The plant is being built in Sagunto, 18 miles north of Valencia. The €3 billion facility ($3.3B) will have an annual capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours, and cell production will start in 2026.
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The move was strategic. The availability of low-cost green electricity and favorable conditions for cheaper battery manufacturing prompted Volkswagen to go ahead with the plant. It’s also possible for the new EV to borrow the ID 2all’s 38-kilowatt hour lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery for a range of under 200 miles.
The Volkswagen Group might even adopt a battery strategy similar to that of Tesla, offering different cell chemistries across price ranges. Tesla uses the more affordable prismatic LFP cells supplied by CATL on the entry-level Model Y and Model 3, while its long-range models likely use energy-dense nickel-based chemistries.
That said, it’s unclear which markets the VW ID.1 would launch in. The US seems like an unlikely destination due to its love for bigger SUVs and trucks. The German automaker currently has the ID.4 SUV in its US EV line-up with plans of adding the ID.7 electric sedan and ID. Buzz microbus in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
