3 days ago
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The German car maker has pulled the covers off what will become its entry-level electric car – a successor to the Volkswagen Up! – as one of nine new Volkswagens set for showrooms in 2027.
Electric Cars
Volkswagen is preparing to launch its most affordable electric vehicle in 2027 with a city-sized hatch priced from €20,000 ($AU34,000).
Overnight the German car giant unveiled the ID. Every1, a pint-sized concept car preview the showroom ID.1 due in two years, and is shorter than a Volkswagen Polo nose to tail but longer than a Kia Picanto.
One of nine new VWs set to be revealed in the next two and a half years, the battery-electric city hatch will be closely related to the larger ID.2 due later this year, and debuts new-generation software.
The production ID.1 will give the brand electric vehicles increasing in size, price and numerical order up to the ID.7 and the ID. Buzz electric people mover and commercial vans.
“The ID. Every1 is the last piece of the puzzle on our journey to having the widest model selection in the volume segment,” Thomas Schafer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said in a media statement.
“We will then offer every customer the right car with the right drive system – including affordable entry-level all-electric mobility.”
Volkswagen Australia has not confirmed the ID. Every1 – described by the car maker as an electric spiritual successor to the Volkswagen Up! – for local showrooms.
The circa-€20,000 ($AU34,000) production version of the ID. Every1 will sit below the ID.2, itself a Polo-sized electric hatch due in European showrooms later this year for around €25,000 ($AU42,500).
For context, an MG 4 51kWh – which is currently available for about $35,000 drive-away in Australia – starts from €34,990 in Germany, though it is hit by tariffs in Europe not present here.
Powering the ID. Every1 is a 70kW front electric motor, with a driving range of "at least" 250km based on European testing.
The production version will also be the first Volkswagen to use a "fundamentally new, particularly powerful software architecture" which the car maker says enables new functions to be added to the vehicle "throughout its entire life cycle."
Using a lower-cost, front-wheel-drive version of VW's MEB electric-car platform, the ID. Every1 measures 3880mm long, 1490mm wide and 1816mm high – between the Volkswagen Up! city car and Volkswagen Polo hatch.
The concept car sits on 19-inch alloys with muscular wheel arches, a ‘floating’ roof and design cues from iconic Volkswagens such as the C-pillar inspired by the Golf hatch.
Inside, it has ‘lounge-like’ seating for four occupants – with seats trimmed largely in recycled materials – with a 50:50 split-fold rear-seat bench and 305 litres of boot space, 54 litres more than an Up!.
A two-spoke ‘square’ multi-function steering wheel with flattened top and bottom includes a digital instrument cluster and centre touchscreen.
There are physical buttons for the air-conditioning, seat heaters and audio system volume on the centre stack, with the front passenger side of the dash designed for a tablet to be ‘snapped’ into – or even fit a shelf.
The centre console can be moved along a rail to the rear passenger section, similar to the flexible design in the Volkswagen ID. Buzz already on sale in Australia.
That’s set to change with the Tesla Model Y-rivalling Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs due imminently for test drives ahead of customer deliveries by mid-2025, priced from $59,990 before on-road costs.
Volkswagen Australia has been forced to wait for electric cars while other markets were given priority due to more stringent emissions rules.
The brand's sales in Australia in 2024 declined 16.8 per cent, while globally it – within the larger Volkswagen Group – sold 383,100 electric cars in 2024, around 8.9 per cent of the 4.3 million total vehicles it sold.
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