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Two I.D. Sedans Exist, e-Beetle Does Not

Volkswagen has two all-electric sedans in the works says the brand’s head of experiential marketing, Greg Lucia.

Recently returned from a Global Summit on future cars in Berlin, Lucia spoke to journalists about VW’s direction in Indianapolis, following the latest leg of the Global Rallycross Championship.

“I was just at this event in Berlin and we’ve got an amazing amount of product coming down the pipeline, a lot of it electric, a lot of it SUV,” said Lucia. “I saw two sedans under the I.D. platform. First time ever. The product is coming down the pipeline.”

The I.D. family is based on the MEB platform, a dedicated electric platform that will underpin a number EVs produced by the Volkswagen brand as well as other VW Group brands, like Audi, Skoda, and SEAT.

The platform is good for a range of 370 miles and comes with either rear-wheel or all-wheel-drive. And thanks to the dearth of engine, VW claims that a car as small as a Golf would have as much interior volume as a Passat.

Volkswagen Showcar I.D. I.D. ? die Revolution. Der erste Volkswagen auf der völlig neuen Elektrofahrzeug-Plattform. Der erste Volkswagen, der für das automatisierte Fahren vorbereitet ist.

So far we’ve seen the I.D. (a hatchback), the I.D. Buzz (a microbus), and the I.D. Crozz (a crossover). Volkswagen promised, though, that across its many brands there would be 30 electric or electrified cars offered by 2025 and a leaked document suggested that the I.D. family was going to gain two more members.

The leaked document showed plans for an I.D. Lounge and AEROe, only the latter of which looked particularly sedan-like. The Lounge, meanwhile, looked more like another SUV, so the indication that two sedans could come is surprising. Whether or not both concepts will make it to production or will even be presented to the public remains to be seen, though.

One thing that almost certainly won’t make it to the public, though, is an electric Beetle.

2017_pinkbeetle_pre-production_model_6145

“We are fighting hard [for it] and considering a new electric bug,” Klaus Bischoff, VW’s head of design, told us at the Detroit auto show. Lucia, though, put those hopes to bed.

“The Beetle won’t be an electric platform for us going forward,” he said. The “Beetle won’t be available in any country for Volkswagen as an E offering.”

Luckily for fans of the Beetle, Lucia indicated that the Beetle would continue to be produced, in its standard, internally combusting way.

Despite the Beetle’s exclusion from the electric party, it’s clear that VW is heavily invested in the EV game and according to Lucia, VW is “betting the farm on electric.”

The post Two I.D. Sedans Exist, e-Beetle Does Not appeared first on VWVortex.



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