PICTURE SPECIAL: Volkswagen ID 3 – the vital new VW

Let’s take a close look at one of the most important cars of the Frankfurt show

Autocar

9 September 2019

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On Monday evening the new all-electric Volkswagen ID 3 was revealed on the eve of the Frankfurt motor show.

Widely seen as the company’s most important new model since the original Golf of 1974, it promises decent range and an affordable price – crucial elements of the mainstream carmaker’s fightback against Tesla. Let’s take a closer look:
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Concept to reality

The ID 3 was first seen as a concept car at the 2016 Paris motor show (pictured). The new hatchback production model will be the first ID model, and should be widely available by summer 2020. Following that should be the the production version of the ID Crozz SUV.
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People’s electric car

Billed as “an electric car for everyone”, the ID 3’s importance for the company is spelled out by the model’s name. VW says the ‘3’ signifies “the third major chapter for the brand after the Beetle and Golf”, both considered to be landmark cars for the company and the wider motoring world.
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MEB

The ID 3 is the first car to use the maker’s new EV-only MEB platform, a scalable architecture that will underpin all ID models and be used by other VW Group brands.

VW is also licensing the platform’s use to other firms, notably Ford, a move considered necessary to help recoup the vast costs of developing the chassis, and generate lower prices through greater economies of scale.
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Space

The bespoke platform has given major packaging advantages. While the ID 3 is only 3mm longer, 10mm wider and 60mm taller than the current Golf, its wheelbase is 145mm longer at 2765mm, just 21mm shy of a Passat saloon’s.

Boot space is identical to the Golf at 380 litres.
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Design

VW design chief Klaus Bischoff said: “The car has unique proportions due to the under-floor battery. With the drive axle at the back, we can have a long wheelbase and short overhangs, with 710mm wheel dimensions – the same as the ID show car.

“We kept the bodystyle from the concept, and the surfaces are very similar to the show car. We’ve kept it simple and only used a few clear lines.”
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Roof

At the rear of the car, there is a large spoiler, required for aerodynamic efficiency. The black roof and rear section made of glossy black plastic seen in these pictures will be standard across all ID 3s.

VW claims the rear-wheeldrive ID 3 will have “intuitive handling” and “phenomenal performance”.
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Driven

The signs are positive: in a recent camouflaged drive of the ID 3 (pictured), Autocar said the car has the “measured, natural responsiveness in everything it does that so often marks out a VW, and that makes for such easy, top-level drivability”.
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Batteries

The ID 3 will be available in three battery sizes with two power outputs from its rear-mounted electric motor: a 45kWh battery with claimed range of 205 miles and 148bhp.

The 58kWh and 77kWh battery-versions both have 201bhp, but delivering 260 and 341 miles of range respectively.
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Charging

All variants will deliver 229lb ft of torque, while the entry and mid-level ID 3s will have a top speed of 99mph. Full specs are to follow soon. A 100kW charging capacity will be available on the midrange ID 3, enabling a promised charging time of just 30 minutes for 161 miles of range.

The smaller battery ID 3 will offer 50kW, but with an optional 100kW. The top-range ID 3 will have a 125kW charging capability. VW is guaranteeing the battery for eight years or 160,000km (99,420 miles).
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Inside

The interior is pared back compared with today’s VW models. “We’ve also made an internal revolution,” Bischoff said, “With a new design that’s extra-simple and clear. We’ve added value by increasing the amount of space, making it airy and open.”
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Dashboard

The dashboard is clear apart from a 10in protruding central screen which is standard equipment. Systems such as navigation will receive over-the-air updates.

There is an optional augmented reality headup display which projects useful and timely information onto the windscreen. All the controls – including on the multifunction steering wheel – are operated using touchsensitive buttons. The only conventional buttons are for electric windows and hazard warning lights.
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Control

VW promises ‘natural’ voice control on the ID 3. For example, an occupant could say “Hello ID, I’m cold” and, in return, the system would increase the climate control temperature.

Wanting to keep things as simple as possible, there won’t be traditional VW trim levels. VW realises many people will be buying an electric car for the first time with their ID 3. However, four option packs are expected to be offered for the UK market.
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Editions

The ID 3 will launch with the 1st edition, powered by a midrange 58kWh battery. The UK’s allocation of ID 3s has apparently already been filled, and VW has said that it’s achieved its target of 35,000 pre-orders globally.

Standard ID 3 order books will open next year, with deliveries in the autumn of 2020. We expect prices from around £27,500 before the £3500 government subsidy, making the entry-level ID 3 price on a par with a mid-range Golf GT TDI when taking the grant into account. Pricing is expected to rise to around £45,000 for the ID 3 1st edition.
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Green?

VW claims that the ID 3 will be the first carbon-neutral model it’s made, claiming all elements of manufacture and distribution will be powered by renewable sources or compensated by certified climate projects. The model will be produced at VW’s Zwickau plant in Germany, a plant that’s due to produce 330,000 electric cars annually from 2021.
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New Logo

Volkswagen has taken the opportunity of the ID 3 launch to unveil a simplified new brand identity, built around a new logo. The new VW roundel is two-dimensional, which VW think will work better in digital usage, and features thinner lines, and the bottom of the ‘W’ no longer touches the edge of the circular badge.

The firm has already replaced the big logo atop its Wolfsburg HQ in Germany.

Let’s take a look at some more views of this very important new car:
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VW ID 3
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