Volkswagen has offered a sneak-peek at how it plans to make its electric ID. range smaller and more affordable.
Although it’s a concept for now, Volkswagen plans to launch the ID. Life – or a production version, anyway – in 2025, with a starting price equivalent to around $30,000 in Europe.
That would make it a similar price to the T-Cross SUV. It also looks a similar size, although renders can be deceiving.
Under the skin is a new variant of the Volkswagen Group’s latest MEB platform designed for small cars. It’s front-wheel drive, not rear-wheel drive like the ID.3 and ID.4 SUV.
Peak power is 172kW, and the 100km/h sprint takes a claimed 6.9 seconds.
A 57kWh battery pack good for 400km of range on the WLTP test cycle sits between the axles.
“The ID. Life proves once again how uniquely flexible the MEB is,” said Thomas Ulbrich, member of the Volkswagen board of management for development.
“The platform is suitable for vehicles of all types, from small cars to vans.”
Outside, the ID. Life is pared back in the extreme. Volkswagen says it has been designed with sustainability in mind, and has used recycled PET bottles for the roof and bonnet.
The tyres on the concept are made of bio-oil, natural rubber, and rice husks.
The cabin is super flexible, with seats that fold down in both rows to create a car capable of carrying big loads, or acting like a mobile cinema. Volkswagen says the seats fold to create a two-metre bed.
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There’s a 230V/16A power supply for laptops, or video game consoles. There’s an oversized projection screen up front to kill time when you’re plugged in to charge.
There are no interior or exterior mirrors, just cameras, and the infotainment system has been replaced with a screen in the steering wheel.
Volkswagen is leaning into smartphones for navigation and entertainment, no doubt to give itself some headroom for whatever’s to come in the next five years when it comes to infotainment.
The ID. Life will join a growing crowd of cute city electric hatches and SUVs when it launches.
Honda already has the retro-futuristic E hatchback, and Renault has signalled the 4 and 5 are coming back with e-power.
Within the Volkswagen Group, it’s likely the front-wheel drive MEB platform underpinning the ID. Life will be repackaged in Seat, Skoda, and even Audi clothes.
What do you think of the ID. Life?
