VW Taking Orders for Electric Hatchback

Volkswagen opens the order book for its new ID.3 ahead of planned deliveries of the electric-powered hatchback in Germany in mid-2020.

The German automaker confirms the new 5-seater will offer three different battery capacities at 45, 58 and 77 kWh with corresponding ranges of 205, 261 and 342 miles (330, 420, 551 km) on the WLTP test cycle.

Holding true to VW’s earlier claims that the ID.3 will be priced similarly to midlevel versions of the seventh-generation Golf, the first in an extended range of dedicated models to be sold under its new ID. electric-vehicle sub-brand will cost less than €30,000 ($33,595) in entry-level guise in Germany before the EV subsidy offered by the German government is subtracted.

This compares to the €27,285 ($30,555) price tag of the gasoline-powered Golf 1.5L TSI ACT Blue Motion in Comfortline trim in Germany.

So-called pre-booking for the ID.3 was kicked off at an event held Wednesday in Berlin, where VW’s head of sales, Jürgen Stackmann, confirms plans for a limited-edition ID.3 launch model.

Called the ID.3 1^st, the initial version of VW’s electric-powered hatchback will be equipped with a 58-kWh battery offering a range of 261 miles on the WLTP cycle.

Limited to 30,000 units, the €40,000 ($44,794) ID.3 1^st will be offered with a choice of Standard, Plus and Max trim levels – the latter of which will feature a new augmented-reality head-up display and panoramic glass roof among a standard equipment list including voice-control and navigation functions.

“With the start of pan-European pre-booking for the ID.3, e-mobility at Volkswagen will become concrete for our customers. From today, everyone can take part,” Stackmann says.

In Germany, the ID.3 1^st can be pre-booked with a deposit of €1,000 ($1,120). The order becomes effective in April 2020. Up to that point, customers will be able to cancel their pre-booking with no charge and their deposit will be refunded, VW says.

Pre-booking of the ID.3 will be offered in 29 European markets, including the U.K., Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Austria.

As an incentive, buyers of the ID.3 1^st in Germany will receive free charging for the first year of ownership up to a maximum of 2,000 kWh at all public charging points covered by the VW charging app WeCharge. Although the automaker is holding back on revealing full technical details of its first dedicated electric model, it says the ID.3 will be available with a 125-kW charger.

By confirming the name of the ID.3, previously known as the ID. hatchback, Volkswagen makes official the numeric naming scheme of its new ID. electric-car lineup, which will be extended with production versions of the earlier ID. Crozz, ID. Vizzion, ID. Buzz and ID. Roomzz concepts in coming years.

Originally previewed in concept-car guise at the 2016 Paris auto show, the definitive production version of the ID.3 is to make its public debut in September at the Frankfurt auto show.

The first ID. brand model will be produced at VW’s Zickau plant in Germany. Production volumes are yet to be confirmed, though Stackmann says Volkswagen plans to deliver more than 100,000 ID.3s per year.