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VW develops small electric ID car for the mass market - Greenpeace cheers: "Finally"

2020-12-06T20:24:06.479Z


VW continues to expand its e-offer. The group is planning an e-Polo from 2023. The Wolfsburg-based company is now targeting buyers in the entry-level segment for electric vehicles for the first time.


VW continues to expand its e-offer.

The group is planning an e-Polo from 2023.

The Wolfsburg-based company is now targeting buyers in the entry-level segment for electric vehicles for the first time.

  • Volkswagen

    plans to invest around 75 billion euros in its e-offensive over the next five years.

  • After the ID.3 and the ID.4, the group is now also planning a Stromer in the

    entry-level

    segment

    .

  • For

    environmentalists

    the plans arrive.

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Hanover -

Volkswagen

will also include an affordable small car in its new range of all-electric cars.

The vehicle is planned for the expansion stage from 2023, should be located below the recently launched

ID.3

and cost around 20,000 euros in the basic version, but at least significantly less than 30,000 euros.

A project team is working on the model.

It should be about the size of a

Polo

, as can be seen from corporate planning.

The project has a high priority and was brought forward.

A possible

ID.2

would be the step by

VW

,

expected by industry

observers

,

to expand its range of electric cars downwards.

The

ID.3

compact car

,

which has been sold since September

and with which CEO Herbert Diess caused a sensation in the summer, will be followed by the

ID.4

small SUV at the turn of the year

.

After that, the

ID.5

- a mixture of SUV and sedan with a range of up to 470 kilometers - and the larger

ID.6 continue

the series.

The electric

ID.Buzz

bus

will be launched in 2022. In 2023, the

Aero B

luxury car

will be

added, which is expected to travel up to 700 kilometers when fully charged.

⚡️ #VWGroup Components delivers essential components of our electric # VWID4.



“We can expect to be one of the largest manufacturers of automotive e-components in the foreseeable future,” says Thomas Schmall, CEO of Volkswagen Group Components.

- Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) November 26, 2020

VW: Environmentalists welcome plans for e-polo

The specific plan for an “E-Polo” has met with great approval from environmentalists.

VW is

finally expanding

its ID series with a smaller, resource-saving ID model,” says Tobias Austrup from

Greenpeace

- an

unusual statement for the

organization

, which is very critical of car manufacturers.

At the same time, he warns that

Volkswagen

and others must now follow suit and offer more alternatives to heavy SUVs: "Traffic will only be climate-friendly if the combustion engine disappears and cars become smaller and lighter at the same time."

The ID series is based on the electrical construction

kit MEB

, with which

VW

wants to create a uniform technical basis for e-mobility and digitization for its group subsidiaries as well.

These platforms are now being designed jointly across brands, including with

Skoda

.

This should save costs and promote the exchange of experience in order to better coordinate software and control systems.

The new

Golf 8

and

ID.3

had start-up problems here.

VW: Extension of the purchase premium should drive demand

Interest in purely electric cars has also grown due to the purchase premiums that were expanded in the summer.

The last “

car summit

” decided to extend the sales promotion funded by the state and industry until the end of 2025.

Despite the general demand

shock

in the

Corona

crisis,

small cars have

recently been delivered more frequently.

For October, the Federal Motor Transport Authority reported almost a quarter more new registrations than in the same month last year.

Except for mobile homes, there was only an increase in sports cars - albeit a much smaller one.

For electric cars of all sizes, the increase in October was even more than 360 percent.

The e-Golf had also found many customers in Germany, but the drive is running out in the new model generation.

VW

relies on the ID family.

Meanwhile, the brand's total sales are still lagging far below the previous year's level.

VW: The car expert is on the right track

Car industry expert

Stefan Bratzel also

praised the small car plans.

"I think this is very necessary," said the head of the Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch Gladbach.

A fully electric offer in the segment will become even more important in the coming years if stricter emissions standards lead to noticeable price increases here too.

However, some competitors - such as Renault with the Zoe model - opened up this business area much earlier.

“They were much faster there,” says Bratzel.

In

his opinion

,

VW

could

also achieve a high market share in small e-cars in the medium term.

The decisive factor is the “force” of the economies of scale: if the new modular E-kit system is launched, the Wolfsburg-based company has good chances.

Until then, for example, the electric version of the even smaller

VW Up has to

serve as a kind of bridge.

It is questionable, however, whether the car, for which customers often have to wait longer due to capacity bottlenecks, can continue to run for years in terms of return.

Manufacturers usually only earn well with small and compact cars if they can achieve very high unit and sales figures.

Otherwise, more expensive models such as SUVs, sports cars or heavy sedans usually generate much higher profits.

VW is planning billion-dollar e-offensive

In its investment plan, which was updated in mid-November, the entire VW group had announced spending of 150 billion euros over the next five years.

Almost half of this goes into e-mobility and digital.

At the headquarters of light commercial vehicles in Hanover, an E-class model for other brands is also to be created.

It could be the "

Tesla

Fighter" for

Audi

,

Porsche

and

Bentley

, with which

VW

wants to attack the US pioneer.

(

dpa

)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-12-06

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