Volkswagen will expand its battery-powered EV family to include a small city-car that will be labelled the VW ID.1 when it arrives in 2023.
According to
, the Volkswagen ID.1 is a direct replacement for the slow-selling Up! hatch that was withdrawn in Australia, but this time the micro-car will come only with five doors and have minimal overhangs but far more space inside thanks to its pure-electric powertrain.Volkswagen's all-new range-opener is said to lift some of its styling cues from the larger ID.3 hatch, and both 'Crozz' SUV and 'e-Roomzz' delivery van versions are also said to be in the works.
Sitting beneath all three small ID.1 models is the Volkswagen Group's dedicated MEB platform that is scalable enough to be shrunk to an Up-sized city-car.
Just two batteries will be offered – 24kWh and 36kWh, with the latter claimed to provide a range of around 300km between charges.
When it arrives, the VW ID.1 is primed to undercut both the Honda e and the MINI Electric.
Developed to be sold for around €20,000 ($A35,000) before government EV subsidies, the smallest and cheapest VW ID model is expected to contribute significantly to Volkswagen's volume aspirations of one million EVs by 2025.
As well as the ID.1, Volkswagen will also roll out an ID.2 small car to challenge both the current Renault ZOE and the upcoming battery-powered version of the recently-launched Peugeot 208.
There's no word on whether Volkswagen Australia has any interest in importing the smaller ID models, but it is gearing up to launch of the much larger ID.4 here in 2022.