VW specifies plans for €20,000 electric car
The vehicle has the working title ID.1 and could hit the road as early as 2027, as VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer explained on the sidelines of the presentation of the business figures for 2023. Work on the ID.1 is already well underway: Four project teams are working on proposals for the EV, and a representative vehicle was already on display at the event. The exact implementation and where the vehicle will be built is still to be decided. “This is extremely challenging economically,” Schäfer told Der Spiegel. Due to the high battery costs, a price of 20,000 euros can only be achieved if the vehicle is manufactured in substantial quantities.
Four scenarios are still being examined to determine how this target can be achieved. VW is also rumoured to be talking to Renault about cooperating on the small electric car to achieve larger quantities. The French company wants to launch an electric Twingo on the market in 2025, which will be based on a slimmed-down version of the AmpR Small platform (formerly CMF-BEV). Volkswagen could adopt the platform and build the ID.1 together with the French – or have it built by Renault.
The ID.2, which has already been confirmed, will be presented as a series version at the end of 2025 and launched on the market in 2026 – so far, a starting price of 25,000 euros has been quoted for a version with an LFP battery. However, VW has yet to confirm whether this will also be available at market launch or only the more expensive top model with NCM battery.
Decision to be made in the coming weeks
Schäfer says that the date for the ID.1 was “deliberately” set one year after the ID.2 planned for 2026. However, if the €20,000 electric model will actually launched on the market in three years and the exact implementation and (VW) plant have not yet been determined. That suggests a cooperation, including external production. However, VW has not commented on the details of the four scenarios mentioned by Schäfer. The brand boss only stated that a decision would be made “in the coming weeks.”
A few days after the premiere of the ‘ID.2all’ concept in March 2023, there were already more concrete rumours about another small EV below the ID.2 – even then, a 20,000-euro model was mentioned for 2027, and the possible name ID.1. The source for the reports was Thomas Schäfer, who gave several interview statements. “That’s the next challenge. We’re working on that,” said Schäfer, referring to the high battery costs for a small EV. A year ago, there was already talk of “several options”, including the acquisition of a platform from another manufacturer. However, Schäfer has already qualified this – he thinks “we can do it alone.”
Even if this decision has still not been made and a cooperation is becoming increasingly more likely than in-house development due to the timetable, Schäfer intends to stick to the basic electric plans despite the recent slump in EV sales – VW Group CEO Oliver Blume had already made a similar statement this week. “The future of Volkswagen is electric,” said Schäfer. “We stand by our plans.”
Incidentally, the first effects of Schäfer’s austerity measures are visible in the business figures: the VW brand’s return on sales rose from 3.6 to 4.1 per cent compared to 2022. Despite the positive development, however, the margin is still below the target of 6.5 per cent in 2026 and also well below the current Group average of seven per cent.
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