September 09, 2019 04:17 PM

VW's EV push starts with ID3

LED lighting has replaced chrome accents on the ID3 for added visual appeal, and to amplify the brand's new EV logo on the front fascia.

FRANKFURT — The Golf-sized subcompact that Volkswagen will employ to begin its global charge into affordable electric vehicles will not be coming to the United States — but many of its components and design characteristics will.

The Volkswagen ID3, unveiled here late Monday in advance of the Frankfurt auto show, is the first of what is expected to become scores of EVs that will share the German mass-market brand's global modular electric platform, known as MEB.

Among the vehicles are three planned to be sold in the U.S.: a five-passenger crossover due in late 2020 called the ID Crozz; a retro-styled version of VW's famed Microbus called the ID Buzz, due in early 2023; and a third vehicle that has yet to be identified and is due in late 2023.

With exterior dimensions and styling similar to the still-popular-in-Europe VW Golf, the ID3 will have a rear-mounted drive motor and come with one of three batteries: a base-level 45 kilowatt-hour battery with a range of up to 205 miles, a midlevel 58 kWh battery with a range of about 260 miles or a high-level 77 kWh battery with an expected range of up to 341 miles, all calculated under European testing standards.

Battery sizes and ranges for the EVs that Volkswagen will sell in the U.S. beginning next year are expected to be bigger, given those vehicles' larger footprint. VW is expected to pursue a similar multitier battery pack strategy with EVs marketed in North America.

REUTERS

VW CEO Herbert Diess:  "The ID3 is the world’s first overall CO₂-neutral electric car."

Volkswagen, still stinging from the diesel-emissions scandal that surfaced in 2015, calls the ID3 its first "CO2-neutral" vehicle, and says it will guarantee the hatchback's battery packs for eight years or about 100,000 miles, another strategy aimed at broadening consumer acceptance that is likely to be carried over to vehicles in the U.S., brand officials have said.

From a styling standpoint, the ID3 introduces a design language for the brand's EVs, using LED lighting to accent and animate its vehicles' lines. LED lighting replaces chrome accents for added visual appeal, and to amplify the brand's new EV logo on the front fascia.

Inside the cabin, the ID3 has an open and uncluttered flat-floor layout that makes the vehicle feel bigger than a similar-sized combustion-powered car such as the Golf. A centrally positioned 10-inch touch screen is augmented by a LED strip that gives drivers visual signals during navigation and can prompt drivers for emergency braking. An optional augmented reality head-up display in the ID3 is also intended to keep the driver's eyes on the road, while natural voice control will allow passengers to control certain vehicle functions without using buttons or switches.

All of the car's systems are expected to appear in later MEB-based vehicles, including those planned for sale in the U.S.

The ID3 will also have a number of safety features expected to be introduced on future vehicles, including: emergency assist braking, pedestrian monitoring, lane keeping assist, a parking assist system that promises to reduce or prevent parking mishaps, as well as a windshield-mounted camera that can identify road signs.

Since VW began a global push into EVs, top company executives have pledged that the automaker's huge scale would keep the vehicles affordable. The company said the ID3 would start at under 30,000 euros, or about $33,000, in Germany, "comparable to that of typical compact vehicles following the deduction of the anticipated government subsidies."