German auto group Volkswagen has taken an earnest first step on promises to deliver millions of electric vehicles to its global markets, as it works to restore the reputation that was all but demolished in the Dieselgate emissions scandal of 2015.
Last night (Australian time), VW board member for marketing and sales Jürgen Stackmann confirmed that in less than one month since opening the books to take reservations, the German carmaker had taken 20,000 reservation payments for its ID.3 hatchback.
Apparently this is far more than the 30,000 reservations the automaker expected by September, having only made plans to build 30,000 of the special edition ID.3 which it is first releasing to market.
After the initial 30,000 are reserved, the carmaker intends to release the base model, which it has said will start at “under €40,000” (converts to under $A64,350).
This without so much as even releasing proper images for the ID.3, which has so far only been sighted in red and blue camouflaged livery.
Granted these are only “pre-orders,” as Stackmann points out, and 20,000 is not exactly groundbreaking; in comparison, Tesla’s Model 3 attracted as many as 400,000 pre-orders in the first two weeks of opening the books.
To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, click here…
