VW ID.2, the "people's electric car" for less than 25,000 euros

The German car giant Volkswagen wants to democratize the electric car and demonstrates it with the ID

VW ID.2, the "people's electric car" for less than 25,000 euros

The German car giant Volkswagen wants to democratize the electric car and demonstrates it with the ID.2all, a concept with a style very inspired by that of a Golf which foreshadows an electric city car expected for 2025 and whose price should remain lower. at 25,000 euros excluding bonuses, with a range of up to 450 kilometers. Electric vehicles have conquered 12% of the European market in just a few years. But they remain confined to the upper segments by their purchase price, from 35,000 or 40,000 euros for models like the VW ID.3 or the Tesla Model 3 (excluding bonuses). Manufacturers must therefore still offer vehicles to the middle classes.

The new "ID" arrives in a nascent market where the cheapest electric car, and one of the most popular, the Dacia Spring, is around 22,000 euros, without bonuses, with an advertised range of 230 kilometers. The new "people's car" from Volkswagen, the leading European manufacturer, will above all have to position itself against the Renault 5, which is due to be released in 2024 with a similar price. Volkswagen had raised the suspense since the last Munich Motor Show, where a model was announced between 20,000 and 25,000 euros. But the increase in raw material and energy costs, supply problems since the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation have complicated this project. "It's not easy to present a vehicle under 25,000 euros," Volkswagen board member Thomas Schmall explained at the brand's annual conference on Wednesday. But the sales volumes should allow for "economies of scale and staying within that price range," he added.

The ID.2 will be the first traction Volkswagen on the MEB platform. Its front wheels will be driven by a 226 hp electric motor allowing it to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 7 seconds, a time worthy of a Golf GTI. Its advertised range of 450 km assumes a battery capacity of around 50 kilowatt hours, which its 11 kW on-board charger should be able to fully recharge in around five and a half hours. The ID.2 will also be able to recover a hundred kilometers of range in just ten minutes of connection to an ultra-fast terminal (125 kW). At just 4.05m long, the ID.2 is shorter than a Polo, but spacious like a Golf, and has a huge boot for this category with a load volume ranging from 490 to 1330 litres.

The world number two says it is aiming for an 11% share of electric vehicles in its global sales this year and 20% by 2025, compared to 7% in 2022. The German group dominated the European electric car market last year but is largely outpaced worldwide by the American Tesla. For the Volkswagen brand, battery cars should represent 80% of sales in Europe by 2030, recalled its boss, Thomas Schäfer, presenting an electric blue ID.2 prototype in Hamburg. The European car market will have to go all-electric in 2035 if the European Union ratifies the ban on sales of new gasoline vehicles by that date. With its more affordable price, this model is the "key to enter the markets of Southern and Eastern Europe" and to develop in the countries of Northern Europe, where more drivers are already behind the wheel of electric cars, explains to AFP Matthias Schmidt, analyst of the automotive sector.

Chinese brands like MG or DR have already launched with attractive models at less than 30,000 euros. At MG, "many customers come from the thermal car, but did not necessarily have the means to go electric so far," said a spokesperson for the brand in France. At the same time, Volkswagen has confirmed that it is also working on a model for less than 20,000 euros. It will come to face the Dacia Spring but also the future models of Hyundai, Stellantis and Chinese manufacturers.