Volkswagen is already taking orders for the first model from its purpose-built, fully electric ID range in 29 EU member states, with initial deliveries expected to happen in the middle of 2020. Oh, the car will be called the ID.3.
According to Jürgen Stackmann, member of the VW board of management for sales, “ID. will be the name of all members of our ID. family. ID. stands for intelligent design, identity and visionary technologies. ID. is not an abbreviation for a specific term, but stands symbolically for the characteristics that these vehicles combine: emission-free, automated driving, intuitive operation and personalized connectivity.”
“The 3 in the ID.3 stands for compact class, this number identifies this segment in the internal project nomenclature of all Volkswagen Group brands. You can also see on the 3: We start from the middle. The number indicates expandability, there is still plenty of room to move upwards, but also downwards. Because we still have a lot in the pipeline. In addition, after Käfer (Beetle) and Golf, the ID.3 is now the third big chapter for Volkswagen.”
The use of numerals is a major shift from VW’s naming convention, rightly so given the significance of the all-electric ID range. Despite sporting some seriously psychedelic camouflage in the press conference, the ID.3 looks to be a Golf equivalent in terms of size, and why not, this is where Volkswagen is traditionally strong at.
The first 30,000 adopters of the ID.3 will need to stump up €1,000 as registration deposit, in return they’ll be getting the ID.3 1st special edition which comes with a range of 420 km (based on WLTP); other range options being 330 km and 550 km.
Among the perks of first adopters include premium specs fitted as standard on the ID.3 1st (e.g. large alloys, heads up display, panoramic roof, voice command, etc.) and free charging for the first year, up to a maximum of 2000 kWh at public charging stations associated with the We Charge app and Ionity rapid charging network.
In Germany, the base ID.3 is estimated to retail starting from €30,000, while the ID.3 1st at under €40,000.
