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Volkswagen just unveiled its ‘revolutionary’ electric concept car — and it’s hitting roads in 2020
It’s finally here, the Volkswagen I.D. electric concept car:
Volkswagen
As Volkswagen said previously, the concept is serving as a template for a production vehicle, which the German automaker just announced will come in 2020. The automaker generated a lot of hype for the car by stating it will be “as revolutionary as the Beetle.”
Here’s everything we know about the concept car:
Volkswagen says the car can get anywhere between 248 miles and 372 miles on a single charge.
That’s not entirely shocking, as Volkswagen CEO Hebert Diess said in August that the prototype vehicle being shown at the Paris Motor Show will have a range that could fall in those exact parameters.
But what we haven’t heard before is that the car will offer “a first tangible glimpse of fully automated driving.” Volkswagen said that will arrive in the 2025 production version of the car, not the one in 2020.
It has a steering wheel that can retract into the dashboard when the car is driving itself. Volkswagen’s fully autonomous mode will be known as “I.D. Pilot.”
As we’ve said before, the concept car is using Volkswagen’s modular electrification kit, known as the MEB. That was first seen on Volkswagen’s BUDD-e microbus concept, pictured below, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Volkswagen has said that the MEB will give its electric cars mileage “on par with today’s gasoline-powered cars by the end of the decade.” If the 248-mile to 372-mile range Volkswagen is touting for the I.D. is true, Volkswagen isn’t off with that claim.
Volkswagen has an interesting note in its press release stating that the I.D. could “receive parcels using a new delivery service” if the owner isn’t home. Considering the automaker is teasing full autonomy in 2025, it’s possible the car could drive and pick-up packages, but we’ll have to wait for more details on that front.
Competition is mounting in the electric car space. Tesla recently announced a battery upgrade that will increase the range of the Model S with Ludicrous mode to 315 miles, and the Model X with Ludicrous mode to 289 miles. The Chevy Bolt will have a range of 238 miles when it hits dealerships by the end of 2016.
The Volkswagen concept isn’t a reality yet, so we will have to wait and see if the production vehicle has a competitive verified range.
Still, Volkswagen’s concept car shows it’s serious about competing in the EV space, and increasing range is a critical component of doing so.
Volkswagen is aiming to introduce more than 30 electrified vehicles by 2025, and to sell two to three million of them a year. The plan was released in response to the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
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