Volkswagen says that the ‘3’ in the ID.3 name signifies “the third major chapter for the brand after the Beetle and Golf”, both of which are iconic cars in Volkswagen’s portfolio.
Volkswagen has unveiled the ID.3 electric hatchback ahead of its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, 2019. This is a very important product for Volkswagen and the first from the ID family of electric cars. The ID.3 was first seen in concept form at the 2016 Paris Motor Show and it will go on sale by mid-2020. Other cars in the ID family will follow soon which include the Crozz SUV, Buzz, Vizzion, and Roomzz.
That the ID.3 is important to Volkswagen is evident in the name itself. Volkswagen says that the ‘3’ in the name signifies “the third major chapter for the brand after the Beetle and Golf”, both of which are iconic cars in Volkswagen’s portfolio and also the motoring industry as a whole.
The ID.3 is the first car to be underpinned by the new MEB platform which is a scalable architecture platform designed purely for electric vehicles. The other cars in the ID family will also use the same platform. Volkswagen will also be sharing this platform with other rival brands like Ford in an effort to recover the vast cost of development of the chassis and lower prices through greater economies of scale.
The ID.3 will come with three battery sizes with two power outputs from its rear-mounted electric motor – there is a 45kWh battery with claimed range of 330km and it generates 145hp; then there is a 58kWh and a 77kWh battery pack, both of which generate 198hp, the former delivering 418km of range and the latter delivering 548km of range. All the variants generate peak torque of 310 Nm and the entry-level and mid-level ID.3’s have a top-speed of 159 kph.
As for charging, a charging capacity of 100kW will be available on the mid-range ID.3, with a promised charging time of 30min for 250km of range. The smaller-battery ID.3 will offer 50kW, but will have 100kW as an option. The top-range ID.3 will be capable of charging at 125kW. VW is guaranteeing the battery for eight years or 1,60,000km.
The inside of the ID.3 bears a very neat and simplistic design language. There’s a 10-inch floating touchscreen infotainment system on the dashboard flanked by the AC vents down below. You do not have a conventional center console with buttons or anything. In fact, the only physical buttons in the entire cabin are the power window buttons and the hazard lights button. Rest are all touch sensitive buttons.
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The instrument cluster is all digital and there is an optional augmented reality head-up display. You also get a next-generation ‘natural’ voice command system which can identify regular speeches. For example, if you say, “Hello ID, I’m cold”, in response, the system would increase the in-car temperature.
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The ID.3 will launch with the first edition powered by a mid-range 58kWh battery. The standard ID.3 order books will open globally sometime next year, with deliveries in autumn. Volkswagen also says that the ID.3 is the first carbon-neutral model in the sense that all elements of manufacture and distribution will be powered by renewable sources or compensated by certified climate projects. There is no word of the Volkswagen ID.3 making it to our shores anytime soon. However, VW will introduce a new range of MQB A0 IN -based models in India from 2021 onwards.
