VW Announces Cheaper EV To Slot Under ID.3 For 2025 Launch

Volkswagen’s line of all-electric cars, which falls under the ID branding, will expand in 2025. Today, the company announced that it’s developing a new model that’ll slot beneath the ID.3 in the lineup and that’ll it’ll arrive in 2025. VW didn’t divulge any more information about the car, though the announcement didn’t come as a total surprise as there’ve been rumors of such a model in development.

A report last March suggested that the development of the ID.1 was already underway. Allegedly, it’d offer two battery options – 24- and 36-kilowatt hours with a maximum range of 185 miles (298 kilometers). Then in November, a new report corroborated the one from March, relying on an unnamed company source that said VW would expand its lineup with two sub-ID.3 models. The smallest would replace the Up!, while the larger one, pegged to be called the ID.2, was rumored to replace the Polo.

Previous reports had noted the rumors of the ID.1 arriving in 2025, and it would seem that VW’s announcement today confirms what we should expect. The runabout should squeak under the €20,000 ($23,800 at current exchange rates) mark and target urban European buyers. VW also said today that it’d continue to invest and optimize its MEB platform, which underpins a breadth of VW and VW Group EVs. The platform will also serve the ID.1.

The ID.1 – or whatever VW decides to call it – will be developed alongside VW’s new Project Trinity, the company’s just-announced all-electric sedan that’ll be one day capable of Level 4 “highly automated” driving. Project Trinity is a flagship for the brand that’ll be a host for cutting-edge battery technology, new manufacturing processes, and a shakeup of what we expect from cars. It won’t launch until 2026 and could be quite the announcement, though it’ll be cars like the ID.1 that help fuel the next generation of EVs.