VW planning small electric ID.1 city car that would sell for under $36,000

The ID.1 city car will join the ID.3 electric hatchback. Source: VW
The ID.1 city car will join the ID.3 electric hatchback. Source: VW

The Driven

German car maker Volkswagen is working on a small city car to join its all-electric ID series that would cost under €20,000 ($A36,000 at today’s rates).

The ID.1, as it would be called, would replace the 2020 e-Up!, and refer to the ID.3 in its design but with shorter overhangs and for easier urban driving.

It would also be available with two battery options. UK’s Car Magazine reports that these would most likely have 24kWh and 36kWh capacity, with the latter rumoured to offer nearly 300km driving range.

But it is the price, of course, that will make the most attractive proposition.

To get there, Volkswagen says it will strip down the MEB modular platform that underpins the ID.3 electric hatchback, and that a smaller version would also cost less.

It will also cost less to use the modular platform to underpin to new electric city car than its previous method of repurposing an existing internal engine vehicle to electric drivetrain, such as it did with the e-Up! and the e-Golf.

To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated sister site, The Driven, click here…

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

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