No Skoda variant of the ID.1 planned after all

According to a media report from Germany, Volkswagen's planned small electric car for around 20,000 euros will probably not get a sister model from Skoda after all. The Czechs are said to be afraid of losses with the small electric car, referred to as the ID.1.

Shortly before the presentation of the prototype of VW’s small electric car, planned for 5 March, it appears that it will only be available from Volkswagen and not from other group brands. With the predecessor model, the VW e-Up!, there was still one variant each from Skoda and Seat, namely the Skoda Citigo e iV and the Seat Mii electric.

However, while Seat is said to have turned down the project for an electric car for 20,000 euros some time ago, Skoda’s decision comes as a surprise. The possibility of building the small electric vehicles of all participating brands in one of Skoda’s Czech plants had already been examined. The ID.1 is now expected to roll off the production line at the VW plant in Palmela, Portugal. However, production there is not yet geared towards electric vehicles.

Skoda’s technical developers are also said to have vied for development leadership for the new car, but the contract was awarded to the VW brand, as reported by Der Spiegel. However, the Czechs are now said to have dropped out of the project altogether, leaving it entirely to VW. A Skoda press spokesperson told the news magazine that the Fabia model for less than 20,000 euros will remain the entry-level model for the Skoda brand. It is a combustion model that will continue to be built beyond 2030. The spokesperson added that the company intends to add to its EV portfolio, even if Skoda does not participate in the €20,000 project.

The sticking point for Skoda is said to be the finances. For the e-Up! Der Spiegel says that the Volkswagen Group lost around 10,000 euros per vehicle. The report also states that VW is only calculating a profit of a few hundred euros per unit for the ID.1. That seemed too much of a stretch for the Skoda management.

Cost has long been a major issue with the project. VW initially wanted to build the ID.1 together with Renault and use the latter’s EV platform. It would have lowered costs and reduced the time to market. However, the talks failed. Apparently the head of the VW works council, Daniela Cavallo, vetoed the plan, insisting the carmaker use its own plants.

To quickly progress with the development of the ID.1, which is due to go on sale in 2027, the small electric car will be the first VW to benefit from VW’s new partnership with the US electric car manufacturer Rivian, as Der Spiegel claims to have learnt. The new electronics architecture, which Rivian and VW are developing in a joint venture, is supposed to reduce the number of control units in the car and, therefore, the cost. It was recently rumoured that the electric Golf, which is planned for 2029 and possibly called the ID.Golf, would be the first VW model to use the new electronics architecture.

spiegel.de