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Volkswagen ID.4 electric SUV launching this year

Volkswagen has confirmed its first electric SUV will be called ID.4, and will be launched this year as a global model produced and sold in Europe, the US and China.


The confirmed nameplate replaces the concept version's clunky ID. Crozz badge.

It will be the second member of Volkswagen's ID range after the Golf-sized ID.3 hatch, and is underpinned by the same ground-up 'MEB' electrical architecture that has also been licensed to Ford.

 

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While ID.4 details are scarce, Volkswagen says the low-drag shape helps improve efficiency, and cites a driving range of up to 500km. That's 10 per cent inferior to the 77kWh ID.3 range topper.

VW says that the ID.4 will initially be launched with rear-wheel drive, but that an electric all-wheel-drive version will be added "at a later date". Expect the launch car to use the ID.3's 150kW/310Nm e-motor.

Obvious competitors in key markets will include the Ford Mustang Mach-E, and the Tesla Model Y.

 

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Other information is off the cards for now, aside from the following from VW:

"The high-voltage battery is positioned near the centre of the underbody to create a low centre of gravity and an optimum in terms of driving dynamics, along with an extremely well-balanced axle load distribution.

"Just like all other MEB models, the ID.4 offers plenty of interior space thanks to its compact, electric drive technology. The fully digital cockpit of the zero-emission SUV has been clearly structured. It is operated primarily using touch surfaces and intelligent, intuitive voice control."

 

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Pictured: Interior of the Volkswagen ID.3, since there aren't any of the ID.4's cabin out there

For an idea of what to expect from the interior, and some ideas of what other battery capacities to expect, read our ID.3 wrap here.

As with the ID.3, Volkswagen says the ID.4 will be produced in a carbon-neutral way, something it claims to manage by powering production with renewables, planning closed-loop battery recycling, and offsetting other emissions by spending money on "climate protection projects".

"For Volkswagen, the ID.4 and ID.3 represent important milestones in the brand’s bid to become entirely carbon-neutral by 2050 – in line with the Paris climate agreement, the company claims.

 

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"Plans have been put in place to reduce the Volkswagen fleet’s CO2 emissions by a third by as early as 2025."

To that end, Volkswagen's other planned Geneva motor show reveals – done digitally, given the show was cancelled – included a Touareg R plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV), and the new-generation Golf GTE PHEV.

 

Australia

Volkswagen's Australian electrification rollout will kick off with the ID.4 – though the first examples aren't expected to touch down in 2022. It is also planning to get stock of the ID.3 at a similar time.

 

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Beyond this? Volkswagen has revealed a few additional ID cars in concept form, including the ID. Space Vizzion wagon, the wild ID. Buggy off-roader, the ID. Buzz cargo van (pictured), the ID. Vizzion sedan , the ID. Buzz people mover, and the ID. Roomzz large SUV.

It's also developing robots that can find and charge electric vehicles in need of a range boost, in car parks.

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