- during the debut of the europe-market volkswagen id.3 electric hatchback, the company also showed off a prototype version of the upcoming id suv model.
- essentially a production version of the id crozz concept car, this compact crossover ev will arrive in the u.s. market in 2020.
- volkswagen also says that this upcoming id model will eventually be built in chattanooga, tennessee.
volkswagen's new, hugely important id.3 electric car won't be sold in the u.s., but we have now seen our best look yet at the company's first u.s.-bound id electric car. a short teaser video was shown at the end of vw's press conference at the frankfurt auto show, and a camouflaged prototype of the upcoming id suv is on display at vw's stand behind some highly reflective glass.
the real thing looks remarkably similar to the id crozz concept car. a compact crossover similar in size to the tiguan, this as yet unnamed id model (we're guessing id.4) is somewhat more stylish and has an almost crossover-coupe-like sloping rear end.
it is based on the same meb platform as the id.3 and will offer either a rear-wheel-drive version with a rear-mounted electric motor or an all-wheel-drive version with an additional motor on the front axle. expect slightly bigger battery options than the id.3, which offers multiple sizes ranging from 45.0 kwh up to 77.0 kwh, to compensate for the id crossover's larger size. quoted europe-market range numbers for the id.3 of 205 to 342 miles aren't likely to have any bearing on the id suv's epa-rated numbers, but we think volkswagen will need to offer a variant with at least 250 miles of range on our shores in order to be competitive in the ev space.
look for more information about when vw will begin importing the new id crossover to the u.s. from its plant in europe. the car will eventually be built in vw's plant in chattanooga, tennessee, a few years from now, but there's plenty of retooling that needs to happen before u.s. production begins.