The new electric SUV set to lead Volkswagen’s electric charge in Australia has been spied wearing almost no disguise.
The ID.4 will be the first member of Volkswagen’s electric family to touch down locally, with a current arrival date some time in 2022 or 2023.
Up front the crossover has lost its fake Opel grille — which fooled no-one — and has now adopted a fake Kia grille.
The ID.4 is said to sit between the Tiguan and long wheelbase Tiguan Allspace in size, meaning it will be between 4.5 and 4.7 metres long.
It will have a longer wheelbase than both mid-sized Tiguan crossovers, and should be significantly roomier thanks to its dedicated MEB electric vehicle platform.
Volkswagen says top-spec versions will have a driving range of around 500 kilometres, or about 10 per cent worse than the best ID.3 hatchback models.
At launch the ID.4 will be offered exclusively with rear-wheel drive, but all-wheel drive variants are slated for introduction further down the road.
In all likelihood, the ID.4 will have the same electric motor with 150kW and 310Nm as the ID.3.
The Golf-sized ID.3 electric hatch is available with three different battery packs: 45kWh with a range of 330km, 58kWh (420km), and 77kWh (550km).
As is the vogue, the ID.4 will also spawn a less practical, but sportier-looking “coupe” version with a more aggressively raked tailgate and roof line.
Before the coronavirus pandemic the ID.4 was due to be unveiled this year, with Australian deliveries scheduled to begin in 2022.
Multiple reports have indicated Volkswagen has been struggling with software issues in the ID.3, which has lead to delays for commencement of series production.
After the Dieselgate saga, the company has pursued an aggressive push into the EV market underpinned by the new MEB platform that will be basis of a broad array of models from Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat and Audi.
Ford will also develop models for Europe based on the MEB setup.
The company’s Audi and Porsche brands are also developing a different architecture, dubbed PPE, for use in more expensive models.
