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Volkswagen pure-electric ‘family’ to take shape over the next two years

Volkswagen will clarify the intended shape of its imminent electric vehicle ‘family’, hitting production from 2020, with a series of concept cars progressively rolled out at the next few major global motor shows.


The company showed part of its hand at the Paris motor show last week, where it revealed the radical Volkswagen I.D. concept - based on its electric-only MEB architecture.

The I.D previews a Golf-sized hatchback with Passat levels of cabin space (the batteries in the floor and motor on the rear axle free up room), a 600km electric range, fast-charging compatibility and a price to rival the diesel Golf.

But the MEB will naturally underpin an entire series of vehicles — likely a majority of the 30 fully electric vehicles the Volkswagen Group plans to launch by 2025.

Pictured: Volkswagen Budd-e concept 

“I think in the next series of international motor shows you’ll see where we’re heading, more of the family thought,” Volkswagen AG board member Jurgen Stackmann told Australian media next week.

Stackmann effectively said that beyond the I.D. there would clearly be a contingent of SUV and crossover models, tapping into market demand. As we have previously reported, Volkswagen is frantically rolling out five or more new internal combustion SUVs by 2019, to be sold parallel to the MEB-based EVs.

“We’re going to expand our SUV range widely, as this type of vehicle will be the dominating vehicle type," Stackmann said.

“... The million sales per year relies on hitting sweet spots in price and demand, meaning you have to give customers what they want at prices they can pay.

Pictured: Audi e-tron quattro concept

“The shape of an SUV probably will play a certain role [in the EV family]. It seems to be the number-one wanted shape, so ignoring that would not be a wise decision.”

As we know, Volkswagen wants to sell one million pure-electric cars per year from 2025, while the wider Volkswagen Group (comprising Skoda, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Seat and Volkswagen Commercial as well) is expected to sell 2-3 million units annually.

Pictured: Porsche Mission-E

We’ve already seen electrified future models in concept form such as the Audi Q6 rival for the Tesla Model X (previewed by the e-tron quattro concept) and Porsche Mission-E.

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