Volkswagen Unveils the ID.3. And Just Like That, Tesla Has Another Competitor.
We already knew Volkswagen had ambitious electric-car plans. Today they took a big step forward as the company revealed the first vehicle in its new line of electric cars: a four-door hatchback called the ID.3.
The back story. My colleague Al Root covered Volkswagen’s (ticker: VOW. Germany) capital markets day in March, noting the company’s effort to get its new vehicle sales to 25% electric by 2025.
The company thinks it can start making electric cars profitably even sooner—and, more to the point, that it must because of the cost of noncompliance with European emissions standards. (Barron’s recently noted the revenue Tesla (TSLA) now expects due to a “fleet pooling” deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU).)
What’s new. On Wednesday, Volkswagen unveiled the ID.3. That makes it the latest in the continuing expansion of electric options for car buyers at a variety of price points and model types, with many more on the way. (Not just cars. Trucks, too.)
Some ID.3 vitals: It’s currently available for preorder in Europe for a €1,000 deposit, which gets you the option to buy a special edition for “less than €40,000” that will have an advertised range of 420 kilometers and come with a year of free charging.
The regular production model will have a wider range of…ranges…across three battery options. The introductory model appears to be in the middle of the line, and many details remain undisclosed. In photographs released today, for example, the car was camouflaged.
The low-end price was given as “under €30,000 in Germany,” while no high-end price was released. It will presumably be below the $2 million price tag we saw on another electric car recently unveiled in New York.
“With the ID.3, we will be ushering in the third major chapter of strategic importance in the history of our brand, following the Beetle and the Golf,” an executive said in a statement.
Looking ahead. Production is scheduled to start later this year with deliveries slated for “mid-2020.”
Volkswagen expects Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway to be key markets for the ID.3 and says it plans to deliver more than 100,000 of them a year. If Tesla’s experience is any indication, that number will be closely tracked. Investors recently applauded Volkswagen’s latest quarterly financial results, and some investors think its move toward electric autos and efforts to boost productivity and profitability can lift the shares further.
Corrections & Amplifications
An earlier version of this story provided a range in miles for the ID.3. But there is no U.S. version of the car, which means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hasn’t yet provided an official range in miles.
Source: barrons
