Volkswagen's Future Begins November 4th, Will Have to Wait in U.S.

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

If you’re really, really into the vehicle assembly process and electric vehicles as a whole, Nov. 4th is a date to set aside on your calendar. You’ll probably want to plunk yourself down in front of a live-streamed broadcast showing the start of Volkswagen ID. 3 production at the automaker’s Zwickau, Germany assembly plant. Chancellor Angela Merkel will be on hand, if that spices things up.

Unveiled last month in Frankfurt, the ID.3’s job is to kick off an ambitious product offensive that will see a torrent of ID-badged EVs unleashed on global markets over the coming years.

Sadly for tech and environmental aficionados, the single-motor, rear-drive ID.3 hatchback is not destined for U.S. shores; the MEB platform vehicle is instead reserved for markets like Europe, offering buyers a range of up to 341 miles (on the WLTP cycle) for a starting price of roughly $33,000. Three battery sizes will be on offer.

According to manufacturing plans seen by Reuters (via CNBC), Volkswagen’s plan is to unseat Tesla as the world’s largest builder of electric vehicles, with production hitting 1 million annually by the end of 2022. Two assembly plants reportedly tapped for China will initially build the majority of these vehicles, though the U.S. gets in on the game before too long.

The automaker’s Chattanooga facility will become home to the ID.4, formerly known as the ID Crozz ⁠— a compact electric crossover that should appear in production form early next year before going on sale in late 2020. Following on its heels is a production version of the ID Buzz, a reborn microbus.

Speaking to Roadshow, Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh claimed the ID.4 will slightly undercut the Tiguan in size and start around $33,000. Thanks to an underfloor battery and no internal combustion engine, it’s interior volume will outrank the larger, gas-powered vehicle, Kaogh claims. Plant upgrades take time, so the ID. 4 will make the journey from Europe for the first couple of years, with Chattanooga’s $800 million upgrade bearing electric fruit thereafter.

The Buzz, or whatever name VW decides to bestow on it, will likely hail from Europe. Expect to see it launch in 2022.

[Images: Volkswagen]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Mike Beranek Mike Beranek on Oct 31, 2019

    I would buy the ID3 if they sold it here. Unlike many, I've had good luck with VW products, and I think this is the best EV to date.

  • RHD RHD on Oct 31, 2019

    When they offer an ID-19, I'll give it some serious consideration.

  • EBFlex China can F right off.
  • MrIcky And tbh, this is why I don't mind a little subsidization of our battery industry. If the American or at least free trade companies don't get some sort of good start, they'll never be able to float long enough to become competitive.
  • SCE to AUX Does the WTO have any teeth? Seems like countries just flail it at each other like a soft rubber stick for internal political purposes.
  • Peter You know we’ve entered the age of self driving vehicles When KIAs go from being stolen to rolling away by themselves.
  • Analoggrotto TTAC is full of drug addicts with short memories. Just beside this article is another very beautiful article about how the EV9 was internationally voted by a renowned board of automotive experts who are no doubt highly educated, wealthy and affluent; the best vehicle in entire world. That's planet earth for you numbskulls. Let me repeat: the best vehicle in the world is the Kia EV9. Voted, and sealed, and if you try to deny it Fanny Willis is ready to prosecute you; but she will send her boyfriend instead because she is busy.
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