As Expected, Volkswagen's EV Platform to Breed a Big 'un

As we’ve seen with nearly all mainstream automakers, going without a three-row crossover is akin to cutting one’s throat. Large broods demand seating for seven or eight, environmental considerations be damned.

Volkswagen wants to keep the family together.

The automaker’s dedicated electric architecture, the MEB platform, is tapped to spawn numerous models in the coming years, from the basic I.D. hatchback and a relatively cheap stripper car to the two-row I.D. Crozz crossover and the I.D. Buzz microbus, but a family of vehicles needs a patriarch. Something big, so rival automakers don’t scoop up buyers in the very fledgling big family EV market.

Remember, Volkswagen anticipates that every human alive on earth will own five VW EVs within six or seven years. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but only just. Few companies in the auto sphere, with the exception of Tesla, talk up the lofty sales potential of electric vehicles quite like like VW. History will be the judge.

But back to VW’s big crossover. The versatile platform makes many bodystyles possible, and, according to Autocar, the stretched bones beneath the Buzz microbus will be repurposed to underpin the three-row crossover, tentatively called the I.D. Lounge. Thus far, that’s the closest thing to an I.D. model name that doesn’t come across as cavity-inducing. Faint praise.

The model’s drivetrain is said to mirror that of the Buzz. Twin motors, one powering the front wheels and another motivating the rear, boast a combined output of 369 horsepower. A hefty 111 kWh battery should be capable of delivering 372 miles of range on the European driving cycle.

Below VW’s MEB flagship, the smaller Cross will spawn two variants, Autocar reports — a more conventional crossover, due out in 2021, and a swoopy, coupe-like model for style-obsessed greenies with two kids (see top image). The latter model should appear around the same time as the I.D. Lounge, in late 2022.

[Image: Volkswagen]