After VW announced at the end of last year that it was retiring its small electric city car, the VW E-Up!, chief technology officer Kai Grunitz announced that the German manufacturer is developing a new small electric model, the ID.1, which will be positioned below the electric model ID.2. It will be a good alternative for increasingly expensive larger electric cars.

The demand for electric cars is growing year by year, and manufacturers are trying in different ways to take over the growing number of undecided customers as well as those who have already decided on an EV. Of course, the price of the car plays the biggest role in the selection, and the most expensive part of the EV is the batteries. Cheaper batteries would definitely have an impact on reducing vehicle prices, and Grunitz is convinced that Volkswagen is close to achieving that.

“With our unified cell, coming in 2026, we’re really going to drive down the cost of the battery itself,” Grunitz said. He also stated: “From a technology perspective, I think we can do it. In the end, it’s a question of scalability, but it’s difficult to get a really affordable all-electric vehicle. We’re looking for cooperation partners outside the VW Group, we’ll see what happens. The car has to be profitable, but for VW this model is much more important than just profit because it represents the entrance to our brand. The first car must be accessible to the customer, because if he sits in ID.1, maybe a little later his next car will be ID.2, ID .3 or ID.4. That’s why it’s really important to have a small affordable vehicle.”

According to Grunitz, the ID.1 will not be part of the SSP family, as this platform will arrive a little later, in 2028. Therefore, they will use a different platform. Whether that means adapting the current MEB platform remains to be seen.

The VW ID.1 should reach the market by 2027.

Source: VW