Sadly, this psychedelic hatch isn’t coming to the U.S.
All right, so the color scheme is a bit in your face. But under that funky blue and red paint job is Volkswagen’s first mass-market electric car. Called the ID.3, the company opened up pre-orders for their new hatchback in the European market. The car will officially debut this fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Volkswagen is showing off (most of) its new hatchback a full year before its market launch, and that plan will continue with its next series of models. A crossover, sedan and modern version of the iconic microbus will follow in the coming months and years. Unlike their weird concept names — Roomzz, Crozz, Buzz and so on — VW’s electric models will use an alphanumeric designation. No longer you have to walk into a dealer and say, “Hello, I’d like an ID. Roomzz, please.” Instead, it will have a name like the ID. 4 or ID. 5.
ID.3 sales target: 100,000 per year
Volkswagen plans a 30,000-unit launch edition for the ID.3, called the 1ST special edition. Beyond that, the company plans to sell 100,000 models of the ID.3 per year in European markets. Sadly, though, since we love crossovers so much, this hatchback will not make its way to U.S. shores, at least for now. With the death of the e-Golf this year, there is an opening in the lineup should the powers that be wish to bring it over here. Volkswagen announced pre-ordering would open in 29 European countries.
The cheapest Volkswagen ID.3 will start just under 30,000 euros, or around $33,600. That model manages 205 miles of range, but there are two other options. The top-end ID.3 1ST launch edition packs 260 miles of range for under 40,000 euros, or around $45,000. The company will also offer its customers up to 2,000 kWh of free charging for the first year they own the ID.3.
Deliveries in Europe will start in mid-2020. Beyond that, we may see the Volkswagen ID.3 in the U.S., but likely only after the ID. crossover goes into production at the Chattanooga plant in 2021.
