[Auto] Rakish ID 5 and hot ID 4 GTX to spearhead VW push

[Agent47]

 

 

Volkswagen will ramp up plans to become the global leader in electric car sales in 2021 with the launch of a high-performance GTX variant of the ID 4 SUV and a new ID 5 coupé-crossover. The two new models will be joined by an updated ID 3 capable of delivering faster charging times.

VW CEO Ralf Brandstätter has confirmed that they will be followed by production versions of the long-anticipated retro-styled ID Buzz in 2022 and the ID Vizzion saloon and estate in 2023
Those vehicles will all be built on the VW Group’s EV-only MEB architecture. In the longer term, work is intensifying on a more compact MEB-Lite platform, which will underpin the planned ID 1 hatch and ID 2 crossover.

VW scaling up EV targets

Although VW had previously predicted that EVs would make up 35% of its total sales by the end of the decade, Brandstätter said the firm is looking to raise that target. “We see the potential for electric models to take up to 55% of our annual sales by 2030,” he said.

The renewed optimism follows the launch of the ID 3 and the recent unveiling of the ID 4, which has just gone on sale in China, VW’s largest single market. In China, VW’s two main joint-venture partners will sell different locally produced variants of the SUV, with VW-FAW offering the ID 4 Crozz and VW-SAIC selling the ID 4 X.
The ID 4 will also be the first model in the range to be built and sold in the US and marks a major escalation in VW’s electric ambitions.

The more aggressive target also reflects the increasing number of countries, including the UK, that have set dates for the switch to zero-emission-only new cars and VW’s rapid expansion of its EV plans. The VW Group is committed to spending £64 billion on electric, hybrid and digital technology developments in the next five years.

ID 4 GTX to showcase electric performance

Kicking off the next wave of ID models is the new ID 4 GTX, which is due to reach the UK in the middle of next year under a marketing campaign led by the slogan ‘Fun without regret’. It will be the first model to use the new GTX tag, which will sit alongside the long-running GTI badge in VW’s performance line-up.

The hot crossover-style SUV forgoes the single-motor rear-wheel-drive layout of standard ID models already on sale for a dual-motor four-wheel-drive set-up that will yield a combined 302bhp and 339lb ft. That’s sufficient for 0-62mph in 6.2sec and a 112mph top speed together with a range of up to 286 miles on a standard 82kWh battery.
Around the same time as the ID 4 GTX arrives in the UK, VW will also launch its third dedicated electric model, the ID 5. Based heavily on the ID 4 – alongside which it will initially be produced at VW’s Zwickau factory before moving to a permanent production home at the current Passat facility in Emden – it takes the coupé-like SUV styling of the earlier ID Crozz Coupé concept into production, with a heavily curved roofline and a liftback-style tailgate featuring an integrated spoiler element.
The electric drivetrain line-up for the ID 5 has yet to be revealed, although it is likely to mirror the ID 4’s. VW insiders say the ID 5 range will include a choice of single-motor rear drive and dual-motor four-wheel drive, including the top-of-the-line 302bhp performance set-up used in the headlining ID 5 GTX model.

The ID 3 will also benefit from ongoing developments next year, including an increase in charging power. Buyers will be offered the choice of a 130kW system by mid-2021 and a 170kW system by the end of next year, up from the current maximum of 100kW. The 170kW set-up is claimed to deliver 121 miles of range in 10 minutes using a DC charger.

VW is also promising a moderate increase in range for all ID 3 models through the end of next year. The Pro S is set to offer up to an extra 24 miles from its 77kWh battery, to 360 miles, due in part to software improvements and advances in thermal management and cell efficiency.